NOAA Fisheries is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Jamal Moss as the new deputy director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Auke Bay Laboratories in Juneau, Alaska.
“Jamal and I started at Auke Bay Laboratories in the same year, but have worked on different science topics for most of our tenure,” said Dana Hanselman, director, Auke Bay Laboratories, Alaska Fisheries Science Center. “I am excited to now work closely with Jamal on the same focus, supporting great science at the lab and the Center.”
Jamal has been with Alaska Fisheries Science Center for 19 years. Most recently he served as team lead for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Gulf of Alaska Integrated Ecosystem Assessment. He was a principal investigator for the Southeast Coastal Monitoring and Northern Bering Sea surveys, and chair of the Center’s Team for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity.
Jamal developed an interest in fish at a young age. As a kid growing up on the south side of Chicago, he spent Saturday mornings watching sportfishing shows. He dreamed of one day becoming a pro bass fisherman with a TV show of his own.
Jamal first started studying Alaskan ecosystems in 2001. As a graduate student he studied the ecology of Prince William Sound pink salmon. Specifically, he looked at the biophysical factors influencing their growth and marine survival during winter. He did this as part of the National Science Foundation’s U.S. Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics program.
In 2003, Jamal began his career with NOAA Fisheries as a fishery research biologist. Since that time, his research has focused on understanding salmon populations and food web dynamics, and ecology and recruitment dynamics of groundfish. He has also supported multidisciplinary approaches to investigate changes in ecosystems and effects on fish populations. He served as a co-lead for the North Pacific Research Board’s Gulf of Alaska Integrated Ecosystem Research Program from 2011–2018. In recent years, his focus has been on building partnerships with stakeholders and incorporating Local Ecological Knowledge into research and management processes through Integrated Ecosystem Assessments.
“I am honored to be a part of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center science leadership team and to help our scientists find creative ways to address both challenges to improve our efficiency and increase our capacity to meet the needs of our stakeholders,” he says.
Jamal received a Ph.D. and M.S. in fisheries from the University of Washington and B.A. in Biology from Connecticut College. He has since contributed to more than 40 peer reviewed scientific publications on the marine ecology of salmon, recruitment dynamics of marine fish, trophic ecology of juvenile fish, and ecosystem-based fisheries management.
