Robert S. Steneck, Ph.D.

Research

Robert Steneck is a professor emeritus of marine biology, oceanography, and marine policy at the University of Maine, whose laboratories include coral reefs in the Caribbean Sea and Indo-Pacific oceans and kelp forests in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. Steneck’s Pew fellowship supported co-management initiatives for lobster and urchin fisheries in Maine by bringing together science, industry, and fisheries stakeholders to promote collaboration and infuse science into management decisions. Steneck’s project infused ecological approaches into fisheries co-management. He included graduate students in his work with fishers, ensuring that students could learn from fishers’ culture  and conduct the scientific research necessary to manage fisheries. This collaborative research was a success throughout New England and received national attention. Steneck’s project was highlighted in the WGBH television special “Fishing for the Future” and in a 2002 article in The Atlantic Monthly titled “Stalking the American Lobster.” Steneck worked closely with graduate students to research the sea urchin industry in Maine, leading the industry to propose marine protected areas for research. One of Steneck’s Pew-funded graduate students went on to become the chief lobster biologist for Maine’s Department of Marine Resources as well as the state’s representative to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and its federal counterpart.

To learn more about Steneck, read his bio.