Luiz A. Rocha
{{Short description|Brazilian-American Ichthyologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Luiz A. Rocha
| image = Luiz_Rocha_rebreather.jpg
| alt =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = João Pessoa, Brazil
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| citizenship = American
| nationality = Brazilian
| fields = Ichthyology
Marine conservation
Evolutionary biology
| workplaces = California Academy of Sciences
| alma_mater = University of Florida
Federal University of Paraiba
| thesis_title = Ecology, the Amazon barrier, and speciation in western Atlantic Halichoeres (Labridae).
| thesis_url = https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00050270/00001
| thesis_year = 2003
| doctoral_advisor = Brian Bowen
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Luiz Alves Rocha is the Curator and Follett Chair of Ichthyology at the California Academy of Sciences.{{Cite web|url=https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/luiz-rocha|title=Profile: Luiz A. Rocha|date=2016}} He is also an adjunct professor at the University of California Santa Cruz{{Cite web|title=Adjunct & Affiliated Faculty|url=https://www.eeb.ucsc.edu/faculty/adj-aff-directory-page.php?uid=lrochafi|access-date=2021-02-27|website=www.eeb.ucsc.edu}} and San Francisco State University.{{Cite web|url=http://biology.sfsu.edu/content/cas-research-professors|title=CAS Research Professors {{!}} SFSU Department of Biology|website=biology.sfsu.edu|access-date=2016-11-03}}
Education
Rocha has obtained a PhD in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from the University of Florida, and a BS in Biology and Masters in Zoology from the Federal University of Paraiba in Brazil. He also conducted post-doctoral work at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the University of Hawaii.
Career
Rocha has authored one book{{Cite book|title=A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes: From Alaska to California|last1=Kells|first1=Valerie A.|last2=Rocha|first2=Luiz A.|last3=Allen|first3=Larry G.|date=2016-01-22|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=9781421418322|language=en}} and more than 150 scientific articles.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Luiz A. Rocha - Google Scholar Citations|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xVOucqgAAAAJ&hl=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-07|website=scholar.google.com}} He is best known for his work in speciation in coral reef fishes{{Cite journal|last1=Rocha|first1=Luiz A.|last2=Robertson|first2=D. Ross|last3=Roman|first3=Joe|last4=Bowen|first4=Brian W.|date=2005-03-22|title=Ecological speciation in tropical reef fishes|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences|language=en|volume=272|issue=1563|pages=573–579|doi=10.1098/2004.3005|issn=0962-8452|pmc=1564072|pmid=15817431}} using advanced genomic methodologies to understand fish evolution,{{Cite journal|last1=Gaither|first1=Michelle R.|last2=Bernal|first2=Moisés A.|last3=Coleman|first3=Richard R.|last4=Bowen|first4=Brian W.|last5=Jones|first5=Shelley A.|last6=Simison|first6=W. Brian|last7=Rocha|first7=Luiz A.|date=2015-04-01|title=Genomic signatures of geographic isolation and natural selection in coral reef fishes|journal=Molecular Ecology|language=en|volume=24|issue=7|pages=1543–1557|doi=10.1111/mec.13129|issn=1365-294X|pmid=25753379|doi-access=free|bibcode=2015MolEc..24.1543G }} and more recently has been actively exploring the diversity of deep (mesophotic) coral reefs throughout the tropics.{{Cite journal|last1=Rocha|first1=Luiz A.|last2=Pinheiro|first2=Hudson T.|last3=Shepherd|first3=Bart|last4=Papastamatiou|first4=Yannis P.|last5=Luiz|first5=Osmar J.|last6=Pyle|first6=Richard L.|last7=Bongaerts|first7=Pim|date=2018-07-20|title=Mesophotic coral ecosystems are threatened and ecologically distinct from shallow water reefs|journal=Science|language=en|volume=361|issue=6399|pages=281–284|doi=10.1126/science.aaq1614|issn=0036-8075|pmid=30026226|bibcode=2018Sci...361..281R|doi-access=free}}
He has also published an opinion piece in the New York Times about the problems associated with the creation of large marine protected areas in the open ocean,{{Cite news|last=Rocha|first=Luiz A.|date=2018-03-20|title=Opinion {{!}} Bigger Is Not Better for Ocean Conservation|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/opinion/environment-ocean-conservation.html|access-date=2021-06-02|issn=0362-4331}} and has evaluated the conservation status of hundreds of species for the IUCN Red List, including the endangered Social Wrasse.{{Cite web|last=Texas)|first=Luiz Rocha (University of|date=2015-08-03|title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Halichoeres socialis|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/en|access-date=2021-06-02|website=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species}}
Taxon named in his honor
- The Parrotfish Sparisoma rocha Pinheiro, Gasparini & I. Sazima, 2010 and
- The Sweeper fish Rocha's sweeper Pempheris rochai J. E. Randall & Victor, 2015 were named in Rocha's honor for his contributions to ichthyology.
Honors and awards
In 2019 he won the inaugural Margaret M. Stewart Achievement Award for Excellence in Ichthyology or Herpetology for his scientific contributions and scholarly impacts on the field of ichthyology.{{Cite web|title=Stewart Award {{!}} American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists|url=https://asih.org/professional-awards/stewart-award|access-date=2020-11-24|website=asih.org}}
Taxon described by him
References
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Category:Evolutionary biologists
Category:American ichthyologists
Category:People associated with the California Academy of Sciences
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:University of Florida alumni
Category:Brazilian ichthyologists
Category:Brazilian taxonomists