Biography
Professor Daniel Pauly is University Killam Professor at the University of British Columbia's Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and Department of Zoology, and Principal Investigator of the Sea Around Us research initiative. His research has transformed the study of global fisheries, marine ecosystems and the ecological impacts of fishing.
Over several decades, Professor Pauly has developed influential methods, concepts and research tools for fisheries science, including approaches for estimating fish population dynamics and reconstructing global fisheries catches. He co-developed the widely used Ecopath ecosystem-modelling approach and was a co-founder of FishBase, the global online database of fish species. Since 1999, he has led Sea Around Us, which documents and analyses the impacts of fisheries on marine ecosystems worldwide. UBC records more than 1,000 scientific and general-interest publications associated with his work.
His contributions have received major international recognition. He shared the 2023 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement with Rashid Sumaila and received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology for fundamental contributions to understanding and conserving the world's oceans. His other honours include the International Cosmos Prize, Volvo Environment Prize, Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada, and appointment as a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by France.
Professor Pauly's longstanding research experience in Africa, including early fieldwork in Ghana, and his work on data-sparse fisheries are particularly relevant to Liberia's priorities in fisheries science, marine-resource management, coastal livelihoods and scientific capacity development.