SMAST professor receives simultaneous local, national, and international recognition
It's a busy October for Prof. Brian Rothschild. The November issue of the National Fisherman magazine, on newsstands now, announces the noted scientist as recipient of the Highliner Lifetime Achievement Award. On the 20th of this month, he will accept the "Man of the Year" award from the Prince Henry Society of Massachusetts. And at the end of the month, he will fly to China to deliver the invited "frontier lecture" at the centennial celebration of the Shanghai Ocean University.
"I am very proud of the recognition," Dr. Rothschild says. "To be honored by my Chinese colleagues in ocean science, my friends in the fishing industry, and my friends and neighbors in greater New Bedford is a tribute that I share with all of my friends and colleagues who have sharpened my commitment to discovery and public service."
The Highliner Lifetime Achievement Award, established by the National Fisherman in 1975, is not awarded every year, but rather only when an individual is recognized to have reached a certain high level of contribution to the fishing industry over his or her career. Former recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award have included Angela Sanfilippo (1994), longtime president of the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association, and former Massachusetts Congressman Gerry Studds (1996).
Fisherman Editor-in-Chief Jessica Hathaway writes, "I am ... honored to present a lifetime achievement award to a man with a seemingly endless list of accomplishments ... those who have worked with Brian Rothschild understand the scope of his commitment to healthy and fairly managed fisheries."
The Prince Henry Society's "Man-of-the-Year" award recognizes Dr. Rothschild as "a person with a documented record of exceptional public or civic achievement that has benefited or aided the Portuguese community." The Society was founded in 1980 to "preserve the contribution of the Portuguese in America and promote the cultural, economic, educational and social betterment of persons of Portuguese descent, and service to our community." The award will be presented at a formal dinner on October 20.
Founded as the Jiang Su Fishery School in 1912, Shanghai Ocean University (SHOU) assumed its present name in 2008 "to explore the wider interdisciplinary fields of ocean sciences." Each year, a single top scientist in the field is invited to addresses the university community to "enhance the international collaboration between SHOU and ... world-recognized scientists," For the celebration of its 100th anniversary on November 1, the university chose Dr. Rothschild to deliver that lecture.
Dr. Rothschild has worked in fishery science for more than half a century. He was the founding dean of the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology, where he currently holds the Montgomery Charter Chair in Marine Science.
Dr. Rothschild has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and reports, authored 20 book chapters, and wrote, edited, or co-edited eight books. He has held faculty positions at the University of Washington, the University of Maryland, and the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and visiting scientist positions at the University of Kiel, Germany, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Harvard University. He has played leadership roles in a number of national and international scientific programs and has served the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in multiple capacities.
At SMAST, Dr. Rothschild , in collaboration with Dr. Kevin Stokesbury, developed an innovative sampling strategy for ocean scallops, which led to the opening of scallop beds and prevented the collapse of the most valuable fishery in the U.S. He has served on the scientific committees of both the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, and he continues to be an important voice in state and local fisheries as Co-Director, with Paul Diodati, of the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Institute, and Chair of the Mayor's Ocean and Fisheries Council for the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts.