Tag Archives: Award

Judith Rosellon-Druker awarded $500 for excellence in doctoral research

Rosellon-Druker-ccJudith Rosellon-Druker, a PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology, has been selected to receive an American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists (AIFRB) Clark Hubbs Research Assistance Award in the amount of $500.00 for excellence in graduate-level research.

Rosellon-Druker’s research examines the population dynamics of four groups of echinoderms—brittle stars, sand dollars, sea stars, and sea urchins—in both open and closed fishing areas of the Georges Bank ecosystem from 2005-2012. Continue reading

Rothschild Named Hjort Scholar

wp_brian_rothschild_7sep1SMAST Prof. Emeritus Brian Rothschild has been appointed a Hjort Scholar by the Hjort Centre for Marine Ecosystem Dynamics, Bergen, Norway. According to the appointment letter, recipients of Hjort Scholarships are “… scientists whose research is deemed to promote scientific innovation and understanding of marine ecosystem dynamics.” The award includes a grant in the amount of 50.000 krone (~US$7000), which will be directed to research collaboration and proposal development with Centre scientists.

The center is named for Johan Hjort, widely considered to be the father of fisheries science.

In October, Dr. Rothschild delivered an invited address at the Johan Hjort Symposium on Recruitment Dynamics and Stock Variability in Bergen. The occasion for the symposium was the 100th anniversary of the publication of Hjort’s seminal book, Fluctuations in the Great Fisheries of Northern Europe. According to the symposium organizers, “The importance of [Hjort’s] volume cannot be overstated, particularly Hjort’s new conceptual ideas about the formation of strong year classes based on age determination from fish scales.”

Dr. Rothschild is Professor Emeritus and founding Dean of the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology. He is currently President and CEO of the Center for Sustainable Fisheries (CSF), a science-based, non-profit organization “devoted to the onservation of our fisheries resources and the economic development of our fishing communities.”

Eddy Wins “Best Student Paper” at AFS

wp_corey_and_sharkPh.D. student Corey Eddy (Biology/SMAST) won the “Best Student Paper Presentation” award at the American Fisheries Society annual meeting last month in Quebec City for “Capture-Related Mortality and Post-Release Survival of Pelagic Sharks Interacting with Tuna Purse Seines in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.” Corey’s advisor, Prof. Diego Bernal, was co-author of the paper.

At the same meeting, UMass Dartmouth scientists and students authored or co-authored some three dozen oral and poster presentations. In addition, SMAST scientists organized and/or moderated technical sessions on Fishing Gear Selectivity and Selective Fishing; Marine Mammal and Fisheries Interactions; Fishing down the Food Web; and Modeling and Statistics.

The Society’s 144th annual meeting was sponsored by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and the Northeastern Division, the Atlantic International Chapter, and the Canadian Aquatic Resources Section of the American Fisheries Society (AFS).

See a complete list of UMassD contributions at the AFS meeting.

Chen Receives NERACOOS Award

wp_chen_neracoosSMAST Prof. Changsheng Chen and WHOI Scientist Emeritus Robert Beardsley were presented with the annual meeting award last week by NERACOOS, the Northeast Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems.

“From the founding of NERACOOS, Changsheng Chen and Robert Beardsley have led the development and evaluation of numerical models of water properties, currents and waves in the northwest Atlantic,” the award text reads. “These models add value to the NERACOOS data products, and extend the reach of the observing system to a wider spectrum of users by providing real time forecasts.”

The cited models are based on the Finite Volume Community Ocean Model originated by Chen, and developed and refined in collaboration with Beardsley for over a decade. The Marine Ecosystem Dynamics Modeling Group at SMAST, led by Chen, is involved in applying the FVCOM model to aquatic systems the world over.

NERACOOS was incorporated in November 2008 to “lead the development, implementation, operation, and evaluation of a sustained, regional coastal ocean observing system for the northeast United States and Canadian Maritime provinces… .” NERACOOS is one of eleven regional associations that constitute the United States Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®).

Photo, l to r: Changsheng Chen, Zdenka Willis (Director U.S. IOOS Program Office), Robert Beardsley.

Stokesbury Named “Scholar of the Year”

wp_kevin_ stokesburyProf. Kevin Stokesbury has been named UMass Dartmouth Scholar of the Year, the Faculty Federation announced last week. He is Professor and Chair in the SMAST Department of Fisheries Oceanography.

Prof. Stokesbury is well known for the drop-camera system for scallop surveys that he developed with Prof. Brian Rothschild and has deployed ever since in cooperation with the scallop fleet. That system is strongly associated with the recovery of the industry and its successful operation ever since. He is currently involved in developing a non-capture system for surveying groundfish populations.

Prof. Stokesbury’s previous awards and honors include the David H. Wallace Award (National Shellfish Association, 2013), Dr. David L. Belding Award for marine resource conservation (2004), and the UMass President’s Award for Public Service (2002). He was named “Friend of the Fishing Industry” (Port of New Bedford) in 2008, and in 2013 his research laboratory, the Marine Fisheries Field Research Group, was selected for the Outstanding Organization Award from the Southern New England Chapter of the American Fisheries Society.

His students have won “Best Paper,” “Best Presentation,” and “Best Use of Technology in a Poster” awards from the National Shellfisheries Association, the International Pectinid Workshop, the ICES Annual Science Conference, and the American Fisheries Society, national and regional level.

He will receive his award at a banquet on December 4.

SMAST Group Named “Outstanding Organization”

wp_AFS_mtg_jun13 010Prof. Kevin Stokesbury’s Marine Fisheries Field Research Group received the Outstanding Organization award at last week’s meeting of the American Fisheries Society, Southern New England Chapter. The award recognizes organizations and units for their current or historic advances in the stewardship of aquatic ecosystems. Stokesbury’s group is best known for its comprehensive video survey of the sea scallop resource along the U.S. Alantic coast, which is credited with helping revive the industry.

At the same meeting, SMAST PhD student Greg DeCelles was selected to receive the Saul B. Saila Best Student Paper award for his presentation of “Dispersal of winter flounder larvae spawned in coastal waters of the Gulf of Maine.”

SMAST Professor, Student Awarded at Aquaculture 2013

wp_shellfishSMAST Prof. Kevin Stokesbury, Chair of the Department of Fisheries Oceanography, was presented with the David H. Wallace Award from the National Shellfisheries Association at the Aquaculture 2013 meeting in Nashville last weekend. The award is given “to individuals whose activities in shellfisheries, aquaculture and conservation have promoted understanding, knowledge, and cooperation among industry members, the academic community, and government… .”

At the same meeting, Prof. Stokesbury’s graduate student Jonathan Carey was named first runner-up for best student paper published in the Journal of Shellfish Research in 2012. The cited paper was “An assessment of juvenile and adult sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, distribution in the northwest Atlantic using high-resolution still imagery,” co-authored by Stokesbury.

SMAST Professor Receives ICES Award

wp_cadrin3_biggerThe International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has awarded Prof. Steven Cadrin the ICES Service Award “… in recognition of his contributions to ICES as Chair of the Working Group on the Northwest Atlantic Regional Sea from 2010-2012.” Under Cadrin’s chairmanship, the Working Group furthered the development of the scientific basis for an integrated ecosystem assessment in the region. ICES’ mission is “… to translate the most advanced results of marine science into useful information and advice on marine ecosystems for decision makers in ICE member countries and international organizations.” Prof. Cadrin is a faculty member in SMAST’s Department of Oceanography, a member of the New England Regional Fishery Council, and former director of NOAA’s CMER program.

SMAST Fishery Scientist Thrice Honored

wp_brian_rothschildProf. Brian Rothschild’s work has been receiving recognition this month on the local, national, and international levels. The current issue of the National Fisherman magazine names him as recipient of the Highliner Lifetime Achievement Award. On October 20, he will accept the “Man of the Year” award from the Prince Henry Society of Massachusetts. And at the end of the month, he will fly to China to deliver the invited “frontier lecture” at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Shanghai Ocean University. Rothschild called the flurry of recognition “a tribute that I share with all of my friends and colleagues who have sharpened my commitment to discovery and public service.” Rothschild is the founding dean of SMAST, where he currently holds the Montgomery Charter Chair in Marine Science. Read full UMass Dartmouth press release.

Kerr Wins AIFRB Best Student Paper Award

wp_lisa_kerr_fieldpicThe American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists has named SMAST’s Dr. Lisa Kerr as winner of the W. F. Thompson Best Student Paper Award for a 2010 publication. The award is given annually to recognize excellence in research and to encourage student professionalism in fisheries and aquatic sciences and publication of research results. The winning paper, “The role of spatial dynamics in the stability, resilience, and productivity of fish populations: An evaluation based on white perch in the Chesapeake Bay,” was co-authored by S.X. Cadrin and D.H. Secor and published when Lisa was pursuing her PhD at the University of Maryland. She is currently a Research Associate in the Department of Fisheries Oceanography at SMAST.