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Mark Hixon surveys a patch reef at Hanauma Bay. (photo by Jeff Kuwabara)
Professor Mark Hixon

Mark Hixon, the Sidney and Erica Hsiao Endowed Chair in Marine Biology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has been recognized as a first-cohort fellow of the International Society for Reef Studies for “scientific achievement and service over a significant period of time.”

A professor in the Department of Biology, Hixon’s research has been valuable for both conserving and managing coral reefs. Working in Hawaiʻi and many parts of the coral world, his lab has clarified mechanisms that allow many species to co-exist on the same reef, as well as the natural processes that cause populations of reef fishes to grow and subside within limits.

More recently his lab has focused on the invasion of Atlantic coral reefs by Pacific lionfish, as well as ways to enhance the ability of algae-eating reef fishes to prevent seaweeds from overgrowing corals following coral-bleaching events.

Hixon has also assisted the society by serving on the editorial board of the scientific journal Coral Reefs for 13 years and on the executive organizing committee for the 13th International Coral Reef Symposium, which will convene in Honolulu in June 2016.

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—By Marcie Grabowski

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