International Society for Reef Studies honors UH Mānoa professor

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Mark Hixon, (808) 956-6427
Hsiao Endowed Chair in Marine Biology, Department of Biology
Marcie Grabowski, (808) 956-3151
Outreach Specialist, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology
Posted: Mar 1, 2016

Mark Hixon
Mark Hixon
Coral reef with fish. Credit: NOAA.
Coral reef with fish. Credit: NOAA.
Hixon surveys a patch reef at Hanauma Bay. Credit: Jeff Kuwabara.
Hixon surveys a patch reef at Hanauma Bay. Credit: Jeff Kuwabara.

Dr. Mark Hixon, the Sidney and Erica Hsiao Endowed Chair in Marine Biology at UH 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 Hawai‘i 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, an East Oʻahu resident, 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.

For more information, visit: https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/