Callum Roberts

For the Newcastle United football player, see Callum Roberts (footballer).
Callum Roberts
Institutions University of York
Alma mater University of York
Thesis Aspects of coral reef fish community structure in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea and on the Great Barrier Reef (1986)

Callum Michael Roberts is a marine conservation biologist, oceanographer, author, research scholar at the University of York, England.[1]

His work examines the impact of human activity on marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs. In St. Lucia and Saba in the Caribbean, he has studied the effects of marine reserves closed to all fishing. His studies revealed both the scale of human impacts on the sea, and the means of protecting marine ecosystems from such effects. He is now working to gain a wider acceptance for marine reserves, including in Britain and Europe where he is advising fishermen on how to promote the concept within the industry and to politicians.

Callum has served on a US National Research Council Committee on Marine Protected Areas and has also been a member of the Marine Reserves Working Group, headed up by Jane Lubchenco, Steve Gaines and Steve Palumbi at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara. With this group he sought to develop a more robust theoretical underpinning for the design and implementation of marine reserves.

In parallel with work on reserves, Callum has also been active with the Coral Reef Fish Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). With colleagues, he has developed global maps of the biodiversity distribution of reef fishes and other faunal groups. These maps have revealed that marine species are more at risk of global extinction than previously believed. Many have small geographic ranges and life history characteristics that render them vulnerable to extinction. However, the maps also show ways to prioritise conservation investment into areas where those resources could be most effective.

He was awarded a Pew fellowship in marine conservation in 2000 to tackle obstacles to implementing marine reserves, and in 2001 he was awarded a Hardy fellowship in conservation biology at Harvard University. Roberts is also an active supporter of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.

Publications since 1996

Books

Chapters in books

Papers

Conference contributions

Roberts, C.M. (1998). Permanent no-take zones: a minimum standard for effective marine protected areas. Pages 96–100 in M. Hatziolos, A.J. Hooten & M. Fodor, eds, Coral Reefs. Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Development. The World Bank, Washington, DC, 1998.

Roberts, C.M. (1998) No-take marine reserves: unlocking the potential for fisheries. Pages 127-132 in Earll, R.C. (ed), Marine Environmental Management: Review of Events in 1997 and Future Trends. Candle Cottage, Kempley, Gloucester, GL18 2BU, 167pp.

Hawkins, J.P. and C.M. Roberts. (1997) Estimating the carrying capacity of coral reefs for recreational scuba diving. Proc. 8th Int. Coral reef Symp., Panama, 2, 1923-1926.

Nowlis, J.S. and C.M. Roberts. (1997) You can have your fish and eat it too: theoretical approaches to marine reserve design. Proceedings of the 8th Int. Coral reef Symp., Panama, 2, 1907-1910.

Selected scientific reports

Roberts, C.M. (2004) Predicted impacts on deepwater fisheries and habitats of allowing access to the waters of the Azores EEZ by fishing vessels from other EU states. Environment Department, University of York. Gell, F.R. and C.M. Roberts. (2003). The fishery effects of marine reserves and fishery closures. WWF-US, Washington, DC. 89pp. http://www.worldwildlife.org/oceans/pdfs/fishery_effects.pdf Roberts, C.M., F.R. Gell, and J.P. Hawkins (2003) Protecting Nationally Important Marine Areas in the Irish Sea Pilot Project Region. Report to the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK. Gell, F.R., Clark, A. and C.M. Roberts (2002) Preliminary report on the economic effects of marine reserves on the reef fishery of Soufrière, Saint Lucia, West Indies. Environment Dept, University of York, UK

Roberts, C.M. (2001). Comments on draft concept design for marine life protection areas in California. Report to World Wildlife Fund – US, 13pp. Roberts, C.M. (1999) Zoning of the Galápagos Marine Reserve. Report to World Wildlife Fund – US, 32pp.

Hudson, E., J. Baillie, H. Hall, G. M. Mace, A. Punt, C. Roberts, Y. Sadovy, C. Safina, J. Sobel, and A. Vincent (1996) Threatened fish? Initial guidelines for applying the IUCN Red List criteria to marine fishes. IUCN

Ormond, R.F.G. and Douglas, A. (eds.) (1996) Exploitation of coral reefs. British Ecological Society, Ecological Issues Booklet No. 7. British Ecological Society, London. 47pp. (co-author).

Semi-popular articles Roberts, C.M. (in press) Turning the clock back 200 years: putting refuges back in the ocean. Currents, journal of the Marine Educators Association, Washington DC, USA.

Roberts, C.M., J.P. Hawkins and F.R. Gell (2003) More fish in the sea. Planet Earth, Autumn 2003, pp 19–22. Natural Environment Research Council, UK.

F.R. Gell & C.M. Roberts (2003) Marine reserves for fisheries management and conservation: a win-win strategy. El Anzuelo, International Institute for Environment and Development, London.

Roberts, C.M. (2003) Enforcing no-take zones. In Marine Conservation, magazine of the Britain’s Marine Conservation Society, Ross-on-Wye, UK.

Roberts, C.M. (1998) Don’t shoot the Stoplight! Reef Encounter 23: 13.

Roberts, C.M. (1998) Overfishing: why we should stop fishing for a solution. Marine Conservation 4(2): 8-9. Marine Conservation Society, Ross-on-Wye, UK.

Roberts, C.M. (1997) Marine Reserves are for fishermen. The Star, St. Lucia. August 1997.

Editorials

1999-2003. Member of editorial board of Conservation Biology, published by the Society for Conservation Biology.

1997-2000. Member of Editorial board of journal Animal Conservation, published by Cambridge University Press.

1996. Senior editor of the proceedings of a symposium: “Marine reserves: Function and Design” held at the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium, Panama.

1991-1996. Co-editor of Reef Encounter, Newsletter of the International Society for Reef Studies.

IUCN Database

Roberts has also played a major role in creating a global database of coral reef fish biodiversity, in collaboration with members of the IUCN Coral Reef Fish Specialist Group, Chaired by Dr Don McAllister (Ocean Voice International) and Patty Almada-Villela. The project has significantly advanced understanding of the global patterns and determinants of marine biological diversity and provided urgently needed information to establish and guide conservation priorities for the tropical marine environment.

References

  1. ↑ "Callum Roberts". The University of York. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  2. ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/jun/07/callum-roberts-ocean-of-life