Draft:Elliott L Hazen

Elliott Hazen is a marine ecologist, data scientist, and conservation biologist known for his research on marine species, particularly marine predators such as sharks, whales, and seabirds. His work focuses on understanding the ecology and behavior of marine animals, with an emphasis on their movements, distribution, predator-prey interactions, and responses to climate variability and environmental change. Hazen's research has had implications for marine conservation but also management strategies along the US West Coast and beyond.

Education and Early Career
Elliott Hazen received his Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from Duke University. He went on to earn his MSc in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from the University of Washington entitled "A Comparison of Factors Influencing Backscatter for Walleye Pollock, Theragra chalcogramma." He earned his Ph.D. in Ecology from Duke University again, on the topic "Linking prey to predator: Scale dependence and oceanographic influence in marine food webs". During his graduate studies, Hazen connected the physics of sound scattering with identifying environmental drivers of the movements and foraging behavior of marine predators. After his graduate research he did two postdocs, one researching beaked whale foraging ecology in the Bahamas and one researching humpback whale foraging ecology in Antarctica.

Research and Contributions
Hazen's research spans various marine ecosystems, with a strong focus on the Gulf of Maine from his PhD and the California Current since his move to California, and spans onshore to offshore from continental shelf ecosystems to the open ocean. He employs cutting-edge technologies such as satellite telemetry, vessel tracking data, Uncrewed Aerial Systems, and bio-logging to study the movements and behavior of marine animals and humans from fine to broad spatial scales. His research included one of the first papers using global climate models to predict how top predator habitat could shift as a result of anthropogenic climate change.

One of Hazen's notable contributions is his work on understanding the foraging ecology of marine predators and the role of oceanographic features across multiple spatial and temporal scales. He has demonstrated how fine scale phenomena such as internal waves influence the distribution of prey species (zooplankton and fish), thereby affecting the foraging behavior of top predators such as humpback whales. On broader scales, his research has shown how marine mammal distribution is related to ocean currents and deep scattering layers of prey in the central tropical Pacific. On finer scales, his research has shown that prey densities are more important in modeling studies while on broad scales, the oceanography can be sufficient in predicting predator distributions. This research has important implications for ecosystem management and the design of marine protected areas.

Additionally, Hazen has conducted groundbreaking studies on the impacts of human impacts on marine ecosystems. By integrating satellite data, oceanographic models, and animal tracking data, he has investigated how shifts in ocean temperatures and productivity affect the distribution and abundance of marine species. His research also has examined how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill overlapped with bluefin tuna spawning habitat. Overall, these studies highlight the importance of considering climate change in conservation planning and underscores the need for adaptive management strategies to mitigate its effects on marine biodiversity.

Recognition and Awards
Elliott Hazen has earned a few awards for his research within the scientific community. He has received prestigious awards such as NOAA's bronze medal and a Fulbright scholarship on developing Novel Spatial Management Strategies for Sustainable Ocean Use. His work has been published in leading scientific journals and has had a significant impact on the field of marine ecology and conservation.

Current work and future directions
As of 2024, Elliott Hazen is a supervisory research ecologist at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center. He also maintains adjunct positions at University of California Santa Cruz's department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Stanford University's Oceans department, and Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. In these roles he continues to lead innovative research on using models to nowcast, forecast, and project species distributions to advance our understanding of marine ecosystems but also to develop proactive conservation and management strategies to address issues such as blue whale ship strike risk and ways to reduce bycatch of leatherback sea turtles among other species in west coast fisheries. In addition, he is working to create new avenues to use data on top predators as early-warning indicators for ecosystem change in fisheries and ecoystem-based management approaches. One of his greatest ongoing successes is in mentoring the next generation of ocean scientists.