Mark A. Hixon

Professor of Marine Ecology and Conservation Biology
B.A. 1973, M.A. 1974, Ph.D. 1979, University of California, Santa Barbara

Mark Hixon has been a professor in OSU's Department of Zoology since 1984. "Ecology" is the scientific study of interactions between organisms and their environments, and "conservation biology" is ecology as applied to conserving ecosystems and species.  Mark's expertise is the ecology and conservation biology of coastal marine fishes in both temperate and tropical regions, emphasizing direct undersea observations and experiments. Mark completed his Ph.D. at U.C. Santa Barbara, where he studied kelp-forest fishes, and was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Hawai`i, where he began his studies of coral-reef fishes. Off Oregon, he has participated in long-term manned submersible studies of groundfish communities inhabiting the outer continental shelf. He has also published on projects in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, the Great Barrier Reef, and French Polynesia (see "Publications"). His research has clarified mechanisms that naturally regulate populations and sustain biodiversity of marine fishes. In 2004, Mark was honored by ISI Citation Index as the most cited American author 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. He was an executive appointee of both the Clinton and Bush administrations to the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee, which he chaired for 3 years. Mark has also served on the National Science Foundation Geosciences Advisory Committee as chair of the ocean science subcommittee. For more information on Dr. Hixon's career, view this article or select "Biographic Profiles" and other tabs from the menu.  Click here to view his recent TED talk about the lionfish invasion.

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