Advisory Board and Editors Marine Biology
Eric J Ward
I’m a statistician / quantitative ecologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NOAA) in Seattle and an affiliate professor at the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences (SAFS) at the University of Washington. I work on a wide range of statistical problems – population dynamics, extinction risk, conservation genetics, fisheries stock assessment, reproductive success studies, etc. Most of the species I study are fish, but I also work with data from marine mammals, seabirds, and turtles. Much of my recent modeling interests have been pursuing applications of multivariate state-space time series and spatio-temporal models, isotope mixing models, and Bayesian model selection techniques.
Tom Webb
Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Animal & Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK. Marine macroecologist, interested in applying computational methods to mobilise data and to visualise and analyse the distribution and dynamics of marine biodiversity at large spatial scales.
Ingrid M Weiss
Professor for Biobased Materials at IBBS - Institute of Biomaterials and Biomolecular Systems, University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Past Head of Biomineralization at INM – Leibniz Institute for New Materials, Saarbrücken, Germany and Private Lecturer "Biochemistry" at the University of Regensburg, Germany.
Easton R White
I am a quantitative marine ecologist who uses mathematical and statistical tools, coupled with experiments and field observations, to answer questions in ecology, conservation science, sustainability, and ecosystem management. Most of my work is focused on marine systems, especially fisheries and spatial planning. I am a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of New Hampshire. Prior to joining UNH, I was a research associate at the University of Vermont with the QuEST program, a NSF-funded PhD traineeship focused on quantitative skills, interdisciplinary work, as well as diversity and inclusion.
I currently conduct research on assessing the effectiveness of protected area networks, improving species monitoring programs, and modeling socio-ecological systems in the context of fisheries. My work centers on how environmental variability, in particular rare events (e.g., hurricanes, COVID-19 pandemic), affects ecosystems and those that depend on them. My current work is funded through a NSF grant focused on interdisciplinary approaches to study coupled natural-human systems with Madagascar fisheries as a case study.
Sau Pinn Woo
Dr Woo received his PhD in Natural History Sciences from Hokkaido University. His interest of study includes systematics, taxonomy, and diversity study of marine invertebrates, focusing on the group Echinoderms. Since 2009, he has been actively uncovering the marine biodiversity and systematics of sea cucumbers across the region.
He is currently serving as a senior lecturer in the Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia where he is also actively leading several marine biodiversity research in the Southeast Asian region that includes several taxa of marine invertebrate. At the global front, he is a serving in several UN Decade of Ocean Science Program ECOP co-chairs and also an active contributor to the IOC Sub-Commission for the Western Pacific (WESTPAC) programmes. At the same time, he is passionate in creating awareness and education of marine sciences to the society through various educational programmes done in CEMACS with the concept of experiential learning for marine sciences
Huiting Wu
Dr. Huiting Wu is a lecturer in the School of Geosciences and Surveying Engineering at China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) in Beijing, China.
Dr. Wu's research focus is on taxonomy, palaeoecology and morphology of brachiopod, mass extinction and biotic recovery. She is also interested in ecology and morphological changes of brachiopod in modern ocean, bivalves and ammonoids.
Dr. Wu is a graduate of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). Between 2016-2017, she was a visiting scholar in Deakin University. Between 2018-2010, she was a post-doctors fellow in the Peking University.
Önder Yildirim
Dr. Onder Yildirim is a Professor in the Faculty of Fisheries at Muğla Sıtkı Kocman University, Muğla, Turkey. He gained his MSc degree, at Faculty of Marine Sciences, Karadeniz Technical University (KTU) Sürmene Faculty of Marine Science in Trabzon, and his PhD degree at Faculty of Fisheries, Ege University in Izmir. Dr. Yildirim has performed research on fish nutrition subjects for over 25 years.
Mark T Young
’m a Scottish evolutionary biologist and vertebrate palaeontologist. My research focus is on major evolutionary transitions: understanding both how and why the vertebrate body-plan radically transforms when adapting to new niches. My interdisciplinary approach including biomechanics, comparative anatomy, neuroanatomy, nomenclature, philosophy of biology, phylogenetics, and systematics/taxonomy.
My areas of research are:
(1) The land-to-sea transition of fossil marine crocodylomorphs. This focuses on the biology of Thalattosuchia (marine crocs that evolved flippers and a tail fin during the Age of Dinosaurs). My research includes understanding their endocranial anatomy, sensory systems, evolutionary relationships, and morphofunctional diversity. Finally, what do thalattosuchians tell us about common evolutionary pathways seen in secondarily aquatic vertebrates?
(2) The air-to-land transition within Columbidae (pigeons and doves). This focuses on the biology of the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) and the Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria). My research includes understanding their skeletal anatomy, locomotory biomechanics, and evolutionary relationships. Finally, what does the Dodo tell us about common evolutionary pathways seen in secondarily flightless birds.
(3) Philosophy of biology. The goal of the sciences is to cumulatively gather descriptive and ultimately causal understanding of objects and events. My research includes ensuring that my work is compatible with the goal of scientific inquiry, and to promote a view of biology and biological research that encapsulates biological theory, applied technological innovation, with a philosophical underpinning.
(4) Promotion of best practice in descriptive biology and zoological nomenclature. Given the current ‘age of extinctions’ we are living through and the dire shortage of trained taxonomists, there is a greater need than ever to ensure that taxonomic and descriptive research meets best practice and is compatible with the goal of scientific inquiry.
I am an ICZN Commissioner, a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, and a member of the Royal Society of Biology (RSB). I have Chartered Biologist status, registered with the RSB. I am a member of two IUCN Species Survival Commission groups: the Crocodile Specialist Group, and the Pigeon & Dove Specialist Group. I am the editor-in-chief of Historical Biology, and also an academic editor for PeerJ and PeerJ Open Advances in Zoology.
Anastasija Zaiko
Dr. Anastasija Zaiko's major areas of expertise are in aquatic ecology and the development and implementation of molecular tools for monitoring and surveillance. She has held leading roles in many national and international research programmes, projects and field expeditions, conducting experimental and observational studies in aquatic ecosystems employing a range of different surveillance techniques (traditional and molecular). Dr. Zaiko is a co-founder and a lead scientist at Sequench Ltd, a professional laboratory specializing in molecular analyses, biosecurity and environmental consulting.
Natalia V. Zhukova
Since 2009 to present time Leading Researcher of the Laboratory of Comparative Biochemistry, National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Far Eastern Federal University.
1992-2009, Senior Researcher
1987-1992, Researcher
1980-1987, Junior Researcher
1978-1980, Probationer Researcher
Matteo Zucchetta
Matteo Zucchetta obtained his PhD thesis entitled "Habitat distribution models for the management of fishery and conservation concern species in lagoon environment” at the University Ca’ Foscari Venice (Italy). He has previously covered the position of researcher University Ca’ Foscari Venice (Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics) and at the National Centre for Coastal Zone Protection and Characterization, Marine Climatology and for Operational Oceanography of the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). Since 2020 he is a researcher of the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council of Italy. His work was carried out in the framework of different EU and Italian projects, and his main research topics are: 1) analysis of the spatial distribution of plant and animal species in coastal and transitional water bodies; 2) Community ecology in transitional water ecosystems; 3) Use of fish fauna assemblages as indicators of ecosystem ecological status; 4) Ecological models for food webs analysis; 5) Climate changes effects on aquatic ecosystems.