Peter Auster

Research Professor Emeritus

UConn, Marine Sciences

Peter Auster is a marine ecologist and a Research Professor Emeritus of Marine Sciences at University of Connecticut. His research focuses primarily on the ecology and conservation of fishes, their habitats, and associated biodiversity.   For the past 40+ years (yikes!!) this work has included 60 major research cruises and a multitude of shore-based projects in the northwest Atlantic, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Caribbean Sea, South China Sea, Indian Ocean, Gulf of California, and in the equatorial Pacific. His basic approach to fieldwork has been to use the same types of techniques underwater that wildlife biologists use on land. That is, making direct underwater observations using scuba, submersibles, camera sleds, tagging, and acoustics to study how individual animals react to variations in nature. Studies have focused on quantifying habitat use and variability across underwater landscapes, understand the linkages between habitat level processes and population-community dynamics, and developing survey methods for fishes living in spatially complex habitats. From an applied science perspective, this work has focused on understanding the ecological impacts of human uses of the sea and on developing a scientific basis for using marine protected areas as a conservation tool. He serves on a number of panels and committees that are focused on marine resource management and conservation and is involved in multiple outreach initiatives that are targeted at informing the public and decision-makers about marine conservation issues.