Myron Peck appointed special professor of Life Cycle Ecophysiology of Marine Animals

In this new chair, Peck will focus on developing a cause-and-effect understanding of how multiple, interacting factors and processes impact key species. He plans to start his work by focusing on shellfish and fish important for aquaculture, fisheries and the ecological functioning of habitats in the southern North Sea and Wadden Sea.

Nature based solutions

He has a keen interest in building opportunities for groups to conduct interdisciplinary research to address ‘wicked problems’ facing marine and coastal social-ecological systems. He plans to integrate new ecophysiological knowledge on key species into analyses, tools, advice and actions that help address broader issues of sustainability in marine and coastal regions. An example would be the better implementation of nature-based solutions to address the climate change and biodiversity crises.

Myron Peck’s Life Cycle Ecophysiology of Marine Animals chair resides within Wageningen University & Research's Marine Animal Ecology group under prof. Tinka Murk. Peck will collaborate with Wageningen Marine Research, the NIOZ and the whole WUR community to combine field, laboratory and modeling approaches to develop a cause-and-effect understanding of key factors and processes impacting marine species and food webs.

Myron Peck

Myron Peck (1969) spent his childhood summers in northern Michigan, USA, where he developed a passion for the Great Lakes. His first exposure to marine biology and research was as an undergraduate where he had the opportunity to perform an assistantship examining the restoration success of tidal salt marshes in southern New England (Connecticut, USA).

After Connecticut, Peck received a MSc in Zoology (Department of Biology) followed by a PhD in Biological Oceanography (Graduate School of Oceanography) from the University of Rhode Island. In 2002, he started working at the University of Hamburg exploring the dynamics of marine species and food webs in the Baltic and southern North Seas. In Hamburg, Peck was a tenured professor of Experimental Biological Oceanography. He moved to Texel in 2020, to join the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) as their Head of the Department of Coastal Systems. He also serves as the NIOZ North Sea Research Coordinator.