About
Kevin Stokesbury is the Dean of the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) and a professor in the Department of Fisheries Oceanography, at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. His research examines the marine ecology of invertebrates and fish, their spatial distribution, population dynamics, and the impacts of fishing and energy development. For the past 20 years, his work has focused on the sea scallop resource, including stock assessment, rotational fishery management strategies, growth and mortality estimates, gear development, and environmental assessment. Most of his research is collaborative with the fishing industries of Canada and the United States and he was awarded the David H. Wallace Award from the National Shellfish Association (2013) and the Standard-Times Southcoast Man of the Year (2018) for his two decades of science in the public interest, and the connections he has made between fishermen and science.
His research has been published in 68 scientific papers and 5 book chapters and funded by over 100 competitive grants (totaling >$ 39 million). He was the founding chair of the Department of Fisheries Oceanography at SMAST from 2005 to 2016. He serves on several ICES committees including Chair of the Scallop Assessment Working Group from 2013 to 2018, and Chair of the Nephrops Benchmark Workshop in 2009. He served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine steering committee for “Fisheries Research and Monitoring for Atlantic Offshore Development – A Workshop.” and has recently been appointed to the “Assessment and Advancement of Science in the Bureau of Ocean Energy management’s Environmental Studies Program.” He was a subject editor for Ecological Applications for 10 years and currently is on the Journal of Shellfish Research and Reviews in Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture editorial boards. He supervises 6 MS and 1 PhD student, while 28 students (5 PhD, 23 MS) have graduated from his laboratory.