This week, IBSS focuses on the importance of the health of our great oceans and the beautiful ecosystems that live in them. Marine biology is an important part of that and this week, we focus on the important women that contribute to many advances in that field.
Dr. Barbara Block is a marine biologist. She got her start in the field with a bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of Vermont. From there, she started working at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute with tuna biologist Francis Carey mentoring her. From 1986-1994, she continued her journey through higher education, obtaining a Ph.D. from Duke University, and working as a professor for the University of Chicago before joining Stanford University.
She worked for many years at Stanford researching oceanic predators and teaching classes. While there, she also established the Tuna Research and Conservation Center, a center that studies tuna biology and physiology, which she now codirects. Dr. Block also works on different big projects at the Dr. Barbara Block Lab at the Hopkins Marine Station In Monterey Bay, including the Tag-A-Giant Project and work on the Animal Telemetry Network.
Dr. Block has contributed many things to research and academia regarding her focus on open ocean tuna. Through her work she improved tuna tagging operations, contributing to two different electronic tagging systems to facilitate more efficient tagging processes. She also works on tracking migrations of sea predators, and the effects of temperature and movement on the physiology and metabolism of those species.
Not only has Dr. Block contributed a great number of research through academic, she has also worked on various film and documentary projects with networks like Disney, National Geographic and Discovery highlighting the things she’s found in her research, including the 2016 documentary “Blue Serengeti”.
Dr. Block currently works at Stanford University as a professor of marine sciences at the Woods Institute for the Environment teaching future marine biologists while also continuing her research of marine predator movement and conservation.
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