Download Mark Hixon

Mark Hixon
PhD - University of California at Santa Barbara
Email: [email protected]
Mark Hixon is a Professor of Biology, the Sidney and Erika
Hsiao Endowed Chair in Marine Biology, and a faculty
member of both the Marine Biology Graduate Program
and the Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology
graduate program. He earned three degrees from the
University of California at Santa Barbara: BA
Environmental Biology (1973), MA Ichthyology and
Ecology (1974), and PhD Population and Aquatic Biology
(1979). Mark was a National Science Foundation
Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Hawai`i at Manoa
from 1979 to 1981, where he began his studies of coral-reef
fishes. After another postdoc at U.C. Irvine, he was a
professor of marine ecology and conservation biology at
Oregon State University from 1984 to 2012, then returned to UH Manoa in January 2013.
Mark’s teaching focuses on various aspects of marine ecology and conservation biology. His
research spans the behavioral, population, and community ecology of coastal marine fishes,
increasingly in the context of conservation biology, and occasionally fisheries ecology. His
projects emphasize undersea research, especially involving controlled field experiments. Mark has
published on field projects in California, Oregon, Hawai`i, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas,
the Great Barrier Reef, and French Polynesia. His research has helped to clarify mechanisms that
naturally regulate populations and sustain biodiversity in the sea, topics of vital importance to
managing fisheries and conserving species. His current research focuses on understanding and
addressing the invasion of Atlantic coral reefs by Pacific lionfish. In Hawai'i, he is developing a
new project called “HUMBuG”: Hawai'i Undersea Metacommunity Biology und Genetics (note
the German word “und” for “and” – “HUMBaG” just didn’t sound right).
In 2004, Mark was honored by ISI Citation Index as the most cited scientific author in the
Northern and Western Hemisphere on coral reefs in the past decade. A Fulbright Senior Scholar
and Aldo Leopold Leadership Program Fellow, he serves on the editorial boards of the scientific
journals Ecology and Ecological Monographs. Mark was an executive appointee of both the
Clinton and Bush administrations to the national Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory
Committee, which he chaired for 3 years. He also served on the National Science Foundation
Geosciences Advisory Committee as chair of the ocean science subcommittee. Actively involved in
public outreach regarding issues in ocean conservation, Mark has given TED talks and recently
appeared on the PBS TV show “Saving the Ocean.”
Some Recent/Representative Publications
•
Hixon, M.A., S. W. Pacala, and S.A. Sandin. 2002. Population regulation: historical
context and contemporary challenges of open vs. closed systems. Ecology 83:1490-1508.
[recognized by ISI Citation Index as being in top 1% cited publications in ecology during
2000-2004]
•
Hixon, M.A., and G.P. Jones. 2005. Competition, predation, and density-dependent
mortality in demersal marine fishes. Ecology 86:2847-2859. [Concepts and Synthesis
lead article]
•
Hixon, M.A. 2011. 60 years of coral-reef fish ecology: past, present, future. Bulletin of
Marine Science 87:727-765. [invited contribution to 60th anniversary special issue]
•
Hixon, M.A., T.W. Anderson, K.L. Buch, D.W. Johnson, J. B. McLeod, and C.D.
Stallings. 2012. Density dependence and population regulation in marine fish: a largescale, long-term field manipulation. Ecological Monographs 82:467-489. [included cover
photo]