I have been involved in research on the ecology of the deep-sea for over 20 years. My main area of research is on fishes, especially the family Myctophidae, a group of open ocean fishes commonly referred to as lanternfishes.

These remarkable fishes are small for the most part (most less than 3 inches in length when fully grown), have large eyes and mouths and possess numerous small lights along their sides, hence the common name lanternfishes. They live in deep ocean waters during the day (300 to 1,000 meters depth) and most rise to shallow waters (some all the way to the very surface) at night in order to feed. Many individuals perform this "vertical migration" on a nightly basis. Cool, huh?

I have studied these and other organisms in the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans, and in the Ross Sea of Antarctica. Most of my basic research was focused in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. I have been especially interested in the age, growth and reproductive patterns among lanternfishes, which are essentially deep-sea counterparts to shallow water anchovies. I am currently developing an overview on these patterns on a global basis, which is my long-term goal in research.

To date, I have published more than 20 papers and articles in national and international refereed journals.

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