Rob Campbell, PhD

Biological Oceanographer

Chief Science Officer

Rob was trained as a biological oceanographer, and his work at PWSSC spans physics to fish. His current research is primarily observational, and centered around trying to understand how plankton and fish interact with the physical environment (temperature, salinity, nutrients) to produce the patterns we see in nature. Current projects include surveys of plankton and oceanography in PWS; Process studies of the seasonal evolution of the surface oceanography in PWS with an instrumented moored profilers; studies on the distribution of nutrients, plankton and fish around the plume of the Copper River. He is also interested in the use of ecophysiological measurements (lipids, protein, enzyme assays) for the estimation of rate processes, and the influence of biochemical content in the control of buoyancy by marine plants and animals. Rob also runs a sonar weir in the lower Copper River in spring to aid management of the Copper River salmon fishery, and is developing in-water cameras with onboard computers that will use machine vision to identify and count fish in real time.