Jay Rooker, PhD

Jay Rooker is a Regents Professor and the McDaniel Chair of Marine Fisheries at Texas A&M University (TAMU). He holds faculty appointments in the Department of Marine Biology (Galveston) and Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences (College Station). Professor Rooker is a recognized leader in the field of fisheries ecology, and his pioneering research using natural chemical tags has provided novel insights on the trans-ocean migration and natal homing of large pelagic fishes. He has been the lead scientist on a broad spectrum of projects on estuarine, coastal, and pelagic fishes over the past two decades in a variety of locations including the Mediterranean Sea, Hawaiian Islands, Equatorial Pacific Ocean, and Caribbean Sea. For DEEEPEND, Prof. Rooker will investigate the consequences of the DH oil spill on the early life ecology and population dynamics of pelagic fishes such as billfishes and tunas.