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Dr Stephen T. Ross

I am currently Adjunct Professor of Biology and Curator Emeritus of Fishes in the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and Principal Scientist of Eco-Consulting Services, LLC, Colorado. I am also Professor Emeritus at University of Southern Mississippi where I served as a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences from 1974- 2004. During my time in Mississippi my graduate students and I worked extensively on coastal and estuarine fishes, with particular emphasis on the Mississippi barrier islands, and on the conservation, ecology, and life history of freshwater fishes throughout Mississippi. Much of our work on freshwater fishes focused on conservation biology of the Bayou Darter, a species endemic to Bayou Pierre, and on the anadromous Gulf Sturgeon. In addition, we spent a number of years actively collecting fishes throughout Mississippi and visiting various fish museums to document the diversity of freshwater fishes in Mississippi. These efforts resulted in establishing the Museum of Ichthyology at USM and in creating a large database of species occurrence records for Mississippi freshwaters. In 2001, all of this work culminated in the publication of the Inland Fishes of Mississippi by University Press of Mississippi— a work generously supported by Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration Program. During my 30 years at the University of Southern Mississippi I trained 29 graduate students and taught courses in ichthyology, biology of fishes, and ecology. While at USM I was awarded the Thomas Waring Bennett, Jr., Distinguished Professorship in the Sciences, and received the first lifetime achievement award offered by the University. I am currently involved in the conservation of native fishes in the Colorado River drainage by serving as a peer reviewer for the San Juan Recovery Implementation Program. I am also completing a textbook entitled, Ecology of North American Freshwater Fishes, to be published by University of California Press. Among the many highlights of my professional career, receiving the C. A. Schultz Conservation award in 2010 will always be very special to me.