Dr. Barbara Block

2016 For Excellence in Science

Marine biologist and Stanford professor Dr. Barbara Block is renowned for her studies of tunas, billfish, sharks, and other migratory marine animals. Her research has expanded knowledge of highly migratory fish behavior, physiology, ecology and their interactions in the ocean using satellite tagging and tracking techniques or tags on a global scale. She established the Tuna Research and Conservation Center with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and also was the leader of the decade long project for the for the Census of Marine Life called TOPP “Tagging Of Pacific Predators.” One of the outcomes of the TOPP program was the recognition of the California animal-rich current that runs off the western shores of North America—dubbed the “Blue Seregenti.” Her Lab at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station also conducts laboratory studies on the physiology, biomechanics and molecular genomics of tunas.