Les Kaufman is an evolutionary

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

specializing in the biology and conservation of

aquatic ecosystems An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem formed by surrounding a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment. The tw ...

. He has special expertise in

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

biology, the evolution and ecology of tropical great lakes fishes, and

ecosystem-based management Ecosystem-based management is an environmental management approach that recognizes the full array of interactions within an ecosystem, including humans, rather than considering single issues, species, or ecosystem services in isolation. It can be ...

of marine resources. Kaufman received his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degrees in evolutionary ecology from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

, receiving his Ph.D. in 1980. He is based in Boston as Professor of Biology in the

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

Marine Program, and Faculty Fellow in the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, where he leads interdisciplinary work on Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS). He conducted post-doctoral research at the Harvard

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

from 1980 to 1983, where he remains an Associate in Ichthyology. Kaufman worked full-time with the New England Aquarium from 1983 through 1994, serving in turn as Curator of Education, Curator of Exhibit Research and Development, and Chief Scientist. Since 2005 he has worked as a senior marine scientist and PI for the Marine Management Areas Science Program (www.science2action.org), and since 2012 as Marine Conservation Fellow in the Betty and Gordon Moore Center for Science. Since 2010, he has also served on the advisory board of Healthy Reefs for Healthy People. Kaufman is active in public education and outreach, occasionally involved in the production of popular articles, television, and radio for venues such as National Geographic, Ranger Rick, and the National Public Broadcasting system. He has taken part in four

saturation diving Saturation diving is diving for periods long enough to bring all tissues into equilibrium with the partial pressures of the inert components of the breathing gas used. It is a diving mode that reduces the number of decompressions divers working ...

missions at the

Aquarius Aquarius may refer to: Astrology * Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign * Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages Astronomy * Aquarius (constellation) * Aquarius in Chinese astronomy Arts and entertainme ...

underwater laboratory, where he has also performed underwater surgery on fish to implant electronic acoustic tags inside them.

References

External links

Boston University faculty profile
Living people American marine biologists Aquanauts Boston University faculty Johns Hopkins University alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) New England Complex Systems Institute 20th-century births American ecologists {{US-biologist-stub