Mark Carr, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, will give the Ricketts Memorial Lecture at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary's annual symposium, Sanctuary Currents 2013. Carr's talk, "What would Ed do? Innovations in science and management of kelp forest ecosystems in the 21st century," will take place on Saturday, April 27, at 2:15 p.m. in the University Center at California State University Monterey Bay in Seaside. The event is free and open to the public.
The Ed Ricketts Memorial Lecture was created to honor people who have exhibited exemplary work throughout their career and advanced the status of knowledge in the field of marine science. Ricketts, who wrote the influential ecological handbook Between Pacific Tides, operated Pacific Biological Laboratories in Monterey and was a close friend of novelist John Steinbeck, serving as inspiration for notable Steinbeck characters such as Doc in Cannery Row. Carr is the fifth UCSC faculty member to receive this honor since it was established in 1986.
Carr's research focuses on coastal marine ecosystems and the population and community ecology of coastal marine fishes. His ecological research informs management and conservation topics such as artificial reefs, management of kelp forest ecosystems, the design and evaluation of marine protected areas, collaborative fisheries research, ecosystem-based fisheries management, and large-scale, long-term monitoring studies. He is a principal investigator with the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO), a multi-university consortium designed to conduct interdisciplinary research that informs coastal marine management and policy.
Carr is a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow. He served as co-chair of the Science Advisory Team to California's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) and California's Ocean Protection Council (OPC), and he sits on the steering committee for CAMEO, a funding program for marine ecosystem research jointly sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Carr received his B.A. in biology at UC Santa Cruz, his M.S. at San Francisco State University and Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and his Ph.D. at UC Santa Barbara. He joined the UCSC faculty in 1997.
