Invited Speakers
Director, U.S. LME Program
NOAA, Northeast Fisheries Science Center
Contact Information:
Phone: (401) 782-3210
Email: ksherman -at- mola.na.nmfs.gov
Dr. Kenneth Sherman is the Director of the Narragansett Laboratory and Office of Marine Ecosystem Studies at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Rhode Island. He is also an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island.
Dr. Sherman's current research focuses on large marine ecosystems (LMEs) and the impact of natural and human influences on ecosystem productivity and biomass yield. His most recent paper, "Fronts in Large Marine Ecosystems" in Progress in Oceanography, uses remote-sensing to examine how oceanic fronts affect LMEs.
Dr. Sherman is a senior editor for the Marine Ecology Progress Series journal. He has authored more than 200 reports on marine plankton, fisheries, and ecosystems. He is also the series editor and/or co-editor of 11 volumes of LME studies published by Elsevier Science. He has also held the post of Chairman for the Biological Oceanography Committee for the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. In 2005, Dr. Sherman won a gold medal from the Department of Commerce for distinguished and extraordinary contributions that further the mission of the department. This Gold Medal is the Department of Commerce’s highest award.
Dr. Sherman's talk at this symposium will focus on: The application of satellite remote sensing for assessing productivity and fisheries yields of the world's Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs).
Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences
Government of India
Contact Information:
Phone: +91-011-24360874/24362548
Email: secretary -at- moes.gov.in
Dr. Shailesh Nayak's research interests include: coastal and marine environmental processes, ocean-atmosphere interaction, coastal geomorphology and disaster management. His recent research involved fisheries service for societal benefit through the development of the Potential Fishing Zones (PFZs) methodology for local fishermen. Dr. Nayak is currently the Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences for the Government of India, and is also President of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing. Previous appointments include: Group Director for Marine and Water Resources at the Space Applications Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO, 2001-2006) and Director for the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS, 2006-2008).
Dr. Nayak has published numerous papers in International and national journals and atlases.
Dr. Nayak's talk at this symposium will focus on: The societal benefits of ocean colour.
Chief, Ecosystems and Oceanography Division
Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries
Honolulu, HI.
Contact Information:
Phone: (808) 983-5390
Email: jeffrey.polovina -at- noaa.gov
Dr. Jeffrey Polovina's research interests focuses on understanding ecosystem dynamics in the central North Pacific. For over a decade he and his team have made extensive use of satellite remotely-sensed oceanographic data. One use of these data are to describe basin-scale changes such as the recent observation that the oligotrophic gyres in all major oceans have expanded by about 15% in the past decade. Another major application of these data is to combine them with electronic tracking data from large pelagic animals to describe their migration and forage habitats. Species of particular focus are bigeye tunas, moonfish, swordfish, and loggerhead sea turtles.
Dr. Polovina's talk at this symposium will focus on the applications of satellite remote sensing to the pelagic ecology of loggerhead sea turtles.
Research Oceanographer
NOAA Environmental Research Division
Contact Information:
Phone: (831) 648-5337
Email: cara.wilson -at- noaa.gov
Dr. Cara Wilson is the Principle Investigator of the West Coast regional node of the NOAA CoastWatch program and is active involved with NOAA's work with satellite ocean color data. She serves as the satellite representative for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Her current research interests involve the use of satellite data to investigate bio-physical coupling in the surface ocean on global to regional scales, and over seasonal and inter-annual timescales. She is interested in the biological and physical causes of large chlorophyll blooms that often develop in late summer in the oligotrophic Pacific near 30°N.
Dr. Wilson's talk at this symposium will focus on: Satellite data and fisheries: the US perspective.
Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences
Hokkaido University
Contact Information:
Phone: (0138) 40-8843
Email: ssaitoh -at- salmon.fish.hokudai.ac.jp
Dr. Sei-Ichi Saitoh’s research interests involve the detection of large-scale biological events (i.e. phytoplankton blooms and squid migration). Recently, Dr. Saitoh developed and implemented the TOREDAS system (Traceable and Operational Resource and Environment Data Acquisition System). This system provides fishermen with fishing ground forecasts for Japanese common squid, Pacific saury, Skipjack tuna and Albacore tuna. Using satellite communication services, users can generate all products dynamically such as overlaying maps, measuring the distance from nearest port or fishing grounds using the onboard GIS in near-real-time. This service aims to promote sustainable fisheries operation and management in the offshore around Japan.
Dr. Saitoh’s talk at this symposium will focus on: The operational use of remote sensing and marin-GIS for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.
Lead Scientist
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and
Aquaculture Science
Contact Information:
Phone: +44 (0) 1502 562244
Email: simon.jennings -at- cefas.co.uk
Dr. Simon Jennings is Lead Scientist for the Environment and Ecosystems Division at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft, UK. He is also an Honorary Chair of Environmental Sciences in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, UK.
The research conducted by Dr. Jennings and his colleagues focuses on marine ecology and fisheries. Particular interests include the effects of fishing and the environment on food webs, the structure and function of communities and ecosystems and the development of environmental indicators. The research underpins scientific advice that is supporting the development and implementation of an ecosystem approach to management. Dr. Jennings also helps to facilitate research collaborations between the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and the University of East Anglia.
Dr. Jennings' talk at this symposium will focus on the use of remote sensing data for assessing food web productivity and fishing impacts.
Fisheries Scientist
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
Contact Information:
Phone: +33 (0) 499 573 224
Email: emmanuel.chassot -at- ird.fr
Dr. Chassot's research focus involves the state of the tuna fisheries, both in France and on an international scale. He is currently involved in several international collaborations studying the population dynamics of tropical tuna species as related to their environment. Dr. Chassot is also looking at fishing effects in open-sea ecosystems and, more specifically, on higher trophic levels.
Dr. Chassot has experience in the creation of statistical models to analyze the recruitment and mortality of fish species important to global marine fisheries.
Dr. Chassot's talk at this symposium will focus on marine primary production constraints on world fish catch.
