Dr. Robert Steneck, Professor of Oceanography, Marine Biology and Marine Policy, University of Maine

Dr. Robert Steneck – Biography & List of Publications

Bob Steneck (Ph.D. 1982, The Johns Hopkins University) is a Professor of Oceanography, Marine Biology and Marine Policy in the University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences. He is a marine ecologist who studies Subarctic kelp forest ecosystems in North America and coral reefs of the Tropical Caribbean Sea and Indopacific Ocean. His research sites include the Gulf of Maine, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, the Caribbean, the Great Barrier Reef, and coastal ecosystems of Brazil, Chile, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, Guam and Palau. Bob’s field-oriented research has resulted in more than 85 peer-reviewed publications. His current efforts are focused on improving the resilience of Mesoamerican coral reef ecosystems.

Bob's research and conservation work on marine ecosystems has won him widespread recognition and numerous awards. In 1994, he was named "Lobster Researcher of the Year" by the International Lobster Congress, and four years later was awarded a Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation for his work with Maine’s lobstermen. In 1995, Bob was distinguished as an AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Fellow for his research on "ancient and contemporary processes that influence marine communities." In work completed in 1997, he and colleagues developed the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) protocol for Caribbean reefs. International recognition includes his appointment, in 2000, to the Scientific Advisory Committee for the National Center for Caribbean Coral Reef Research, and an invitation, in March 2003, to review the status of kelp forest ecosystems of the world at the 5th International Conference on Environmental Future in Zurich, Switzerland, which focused on marine and freshwater ecosystems. In 2005, Bob was appointed to The Nature Conservancy’s Mesoamerican Reef Advisory Committee.

Below are listed some relevant and recent publications:

1998    Steneck, R. S. Human influences on coastal ecosystems: Does overfishing create trophic cascades? Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 13: 429 - 430.

2001    Jackson, J. B., Steneck, R. S. (several others). Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science. 293: 629 - 638.

2001    Steneck, R. S. and Wilson, C. J. Long-term and large scale spatial and temporal patterns in demography and landings of the American lobster, Homarus americanus, in Maine. Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 52: 1302 - 1319.

2001 Steneck, R. S. and Carlton, J. T. Human alterations of marine communities. pages 445 - 468 in Bertness, M, Gaines, S., and Hay, M. (eds). Marine Community Ecology. Sinauer press. Sunderland, MA.

2002 Steneck, R. S., Graham, M. H. , Bourque, B. J., Corbett, D., Erlandson, J. M, Estes, J. A., and Tegner, M. J. Kelp forest ecosystem: biodiversity, stability, resilience and their future. Environmental Conservation. 29 (4): 436 – 459.

2004 Steneck, R. S., Vavrinec, J. and Leland, A. V. Accelerating trophic level dysfunction in kelp forest ecosystems of the western North Atlantic. Ecosystems. 7(4): 323-331

2005 Hughes, T. P., Bellwood, D. R., Folke, C., Steneck, R. S. and Wilson, J. E. New paradigms for supporting resilience of marine ecosystems. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 20:380 - 386.

2005 Hughes, T. P., Bellwood, D. R., Folke, C., Steneck, R. S. and Wilson, J. E. New paradigms for supporting resilience of marine ecosystems. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 20:380 - 386.

2005   Sale, P. F., Cowen, R. K., Danilowicz, B. S., Jones, G. P., Kritzer, J. P. Lindeman, K. C., Planes, S., Polunin, N. V. C., Russ, G. R., Sadovy, Y. J. and Steneck, R. S. Critical science gaps impede use of no-take fishery reserves. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 20: 74-80.

2005   Steneck, R. S. and Sala, E. A. Large marine carnivores: trophic cascades and top-down controls in coastal ecosystems past and present. Pages 110 – 137 in Ray, J., Redford, K., Steneck, R. and Berger, J. (eds) Large Carnivores and the conservation of biodiversity Island Press.

2006   Berkes, F., Hughes, T. P., Steneck, R. S., Wilson, J. Bellwood, D. R., Crona, B., Folke, C., Leslie, H., Norberg, J., Nystron, M., Olsson, P., Scheffer, M., Worm, B., Globalization, roving bandits and marine resources Science. 311: 1557 – 1558.

2006   Pandolfi, J. M., Tudhope, A.W., Burr, G., Chappell, J., Edinger, E., Frey, M. Steneck, R., Sharma, C., Yeats, A., Jennions, M., Lescinsky, H., and Newton, A.   Mass mortality following disturbance in Holocene coral reefs from Papua New Guinea. Geology. 34:949 – 952.

2006   Steneck, R. S. Possible demographic consequences to intraspecific shelter competition among American lobsters. Journal of Crustacean Biology 26: 628-638

2006   Butler, M., Steneck, R. S and Herrnkind, W. The ecology of juvenile and adult lobsters. Pages 263 – 309 In. Phillips, R. (ed). Lobsters: the biology, management aquaculture and fisheries. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Oxford UK.

2006   Steneck, R. S. Is the American lobster, Homarus americanus overfished? A review of overfishing with an ecologically-based perspective. Bulletin of Marine Sciences. 78: 607 –632.

2006 Steneck, R. S. Staying connected in a turbulent world. Science. 311: 480-481.

2007 Bourque, B. J., Johnson, B., and Steneck R. S. Possible prehistoric hunter-gatherer impacts on food web structure in the Gulf of Maine. In. Erlandson, J. and Torben, R. (eds) Human Impacts on Ancient Marine Environments. Univ. of California Press. In press.

2007 Hughes, T. P. Rodrigues, M. J., Bellwood, D. R., Ceccarelli, D., Hoegh-Gulberg, O, McCook, L., Moltschaniwskyj, N. Pratchett, M. S., Steneck, R. S. and Willis, B. Regime-shifts, herbivory and the resilience of coral reefs to climate change. Current Biology. 17: 1 - 6

2007   Halfar, J., Steneck, R. Schöne, Moore, G. W. K., Joachimski, M., Kronz, A., Fietzke, J., and Estes, J. 2007. Coralline alga reveals first marine record of subarctic North Pacific climate change. Geophysical Research Letters. 34:in press.

2007   Steneck, R. S., Gulf of Maine: a case study. Pages 199 – 202 in Hunter, M. L., Jr. and Gibbs, J. Fundamentals of Conservation Biology. 3rd Ed. Blackwell Publishing. 497.

2007   Steneck, R. S., Martone, P. Calcified algae. Pages 21 – 24 In Denny, M. and Gaines, S. Encyclopedia of Tidepools and Rocky Shores. Univ. of California Press.

2007   Steneck, R. S., Bustamante, R. H. Dayton, P. K., Jones, G. P. and Hobday, Al J. Kelp forest ecosystems: current status and future trends in Polunin NVC (ed) 2007 Aquatic ecosystems: trends and global prospects. Cambridge University Press.