Saturday, February 16, 2013

Profile: Aaron Baldwin, Marine Biologist

 Aaron Baldwin with Bathynomus specimen.

Flatworms, ribbon worms, chitons, crabs, lampshells, acorn worms, jellyfish, isopods, copepods and pseudscorpions--what do these faunal groups have in common?   They are all invertebrate faunal groups we cover on E-Fauna BC, and they all have BC checklists prepared by Alaskan marine biologist, Aaron Baldwin.

Aaron is a Seattle native who is currently a fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. He has completed a master's in crustacean reproductive biology (University of Louisiana) and has started a PhD in shrimp ecology (University of Alaska Fairbanks). He says "I have worked as a professor, a K12 science teacher, a NMFS observer, and am currently a fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Juneau, Alaska." 

Over the last few years, Aaron has done quite a bit for E-Fauna BC and uses his taxonomic skills extensively. He has compiled species lists for many of BC's marine invertebrate groups, has written introductions to groups (see, for example, his introduction the crabs, shrimps and crayfish of BC), and has submitted more than 1000 photos to E-Fauna's photo gallery.  His photos cover everything, including limpets, crabs, jellyfish, marine fish, dovesnails, and sea stars, often representing his time on ocean-going vessels way up north. Now and then, he also submits photos of terrestrial species. 

Here are a few of examples of Aaron's crab photos, and group that have a special interest for him:




Take a peek at more of Aaron's photo gallery contributions here.

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