Dr. Jim Maragos, whose coral reef conservation accomplishments span decades, is the 2010 recipient of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Rachel Carson award for scientific excellence. The annual award recognizes a Service employee for significant contributions expanding knowledge in the scientific, conservation and wildlife management fields.
"Jim is widely recognized as one of our nation's leading coral reef experts and his work helped lead the way to the establishment of four marine national monuments, providing the largest span of protected marine ecosystems in the world," said Rowan Gould, the Service's Acting Director. The award was presented March 17 at the 76th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.
As the senior coral reef biologist for the Service since 1999, Dr. Maragos initiated, led or participated in dozens of ship-based expeditions to some of the most remote islands and atolls in the Pacific Ocean, documenting species, surveying ecosystem health, and gathering data from 100 monitoring stations at 71 islands and atolls. One of the world's few experts on atoll ecology, he retired from the Service in January 2011.
Dr. Maragos began his groundbreaking work in with his doctoral thesis, which focused on assessing the impacts of sewage on corals in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. This research helped compel local governments to remove the sewage outfalls from the bay and led to coral recovery. This seminal project is recognized as one of the first successful habitat restoration projects for coral reefs and helped introduce the discipline of coral reef management to the world.
He has compiled records, guides and photos of corals in thousands of reefs throughout Oceania. With his extensive knowledge of coral taxonomy, he described one new species and, with partners in summer 2010, identified at least 10 other species that are likely new to science.
Because of the pioneering work by Dr. Maragos and others with whom he has worked, the United States boasts protection and management of four marine national monuments, spanning more than 215 million tropical marine habitats in the Pacific that are unparalleled in biodiversity and intact ecological structure structure
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