Chris Conroy, a PhD student at the Marine Science Center in Nahant working in Dr. Jonathan Grabowski’s lab, has been awarded this year’s American Fisheries Society’s Steven Berkeley Marine Conservation Fellowship. This fellowship is a $10,000 award to one graduate student actively engaged in thesis research relevant to marine conservation. The fellowship is not limited to fisheries issues.

The American Fisheries Society created the fellowship in 2007 to honor Steven Berkeley, a dedicated fisheries scientist who integrated the fields of marine ecology, conservation biology, and fisheries science to improve fisheries management. Berkeley was a long-time member of the AFS and a member of the first Board of Directors of the Fisheries Conservation Foundation.

Conroy earned his MS in Environmental Science at the University of Maryland’s Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. For his Masters work, Conroy concentrated on the causes and consequences of partial migration in young-of-the-year striped bass Morone saxatilis.

Conroy is interested in how populations interact in marine environments, and how they are affected by anthropogenic factors such as fishing and climate change. He is currently studying the role that intrapopulation diversity plays in the stability and resilience of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua populations and its importance to the management of this essential fishery.

The fellowship is awarded based on relevance of proposed research, academic achievement, and anticipated future contributions by the applicant. Conroy will receive his award at the AFS annual meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas in September. The announcement will also be featured in an upcoming edition of Fisheries magazine.