Benjamin C. Victor writes: "I have a variety of interests -- fish biology, evolution, medicine, microbiology, mycology, geography, economics. I received my PhD in population biology at the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1986 working on tropical reef fishes and the importance of recruitment and larval ecology to reef populations. After that I continued my research on fishes, but also graduated from medical school at The University of California at Irvine and then an internship at Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, California. I returned to finish a residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at UC Irvine and since then I have worked as a consultant in medicine, mycology, and fish biology, and received an MBA from UC Irvine.

Despite these academic and commercial peregrinations, I am involved in a variety of research projects and collaborations on fishes. My primary interest is in the larval ecology of coral reef fishes and its role in determining biogeography and population dynamics. I have worked in Panama, Galapagos, Baja California, Palau, Brazil and Bali and concentrated on the wrasse family (Labridae).

In 2002, I started the non-profit Ocean Science Foundation to facilitate coral reef research by providing a research platform to conservation and academic NGOs. The vessel Darwin is a 53-foot power catamaran with a maximum speed of 25 knots and will accommodate up to 8 people. We anticipate it will be in the Sea of Cortez by 2005.

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