Thomas Trott

Thomas J. Trott received his Ph.D. from the Boston University Marine Program at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He is currently an Emeritus Professor of Biology at Suffolk University, Boston, where he taught for 19 years before pursuing research in benthic nearshore ecology in the Gulf of Maine. He has served on various regional committees focused on coastal management and monitoring, has played key roles in developing and executing young citizen science programs and presented at many national and international conferences and public venues. He has published in many peer-reviewed journals and maintains various editorial responsibilities including Editor in Chief, Guest Editor, and Associate Editor. His early career interests focused on the intersections of chemosensory biology, behavior, and ecology in marine organisms. His research path continues with field studies aimed at determining small- and large-scale patterns of distribution among nearshore populations of macroinvertebrates. This work contributed to the Census of Marine Life through support from the History of Marine Animal Populations, NaGISA, and Gulf of Maine Census Programs. Most recently, the detection and tracking of non-native introduced species have become research priorities. He has been fortunate to work across a variety of habitats in different countries and benefit from the rewards of collaborative research. He is particularly interested in assessing, documenting, and unraveling the influences of coastal processes on nearshore spatial ecology and biodiversity, and how changes in coastal ecosystems affect the quality of life for people living in coastal communities.