Barbara Block

Barbara Block is an American marine biologist and Charles & Elizabeth Prothro Professor of Biology in Marine Sciences at the Stanford University Hopkins Marine Station and a co-director of Stanford University's Tuna Research and Conservation Center, with the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She has published numerous bodies of work throughout her career in marine biology and chemistry, mainly focusing on the biology and chemistry of metabolism in different tuna and shark species. Additionally, she has helped develop two new types of electronic tags for large pelagic predators in order to track the migrations of large oceanic predator species. Biography and career Block began her higher education by obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from the University of Vermont in 1980. Under the mentorship of Dr. Francis Carey, a late prominent figure in the study of tuna biology, Block began her oceanographic career at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She continued on to pursue a Ph.D in 1986 at Duke University, until moving onward to becoming a professor herself.

She currently spends time running the Dr. Barbara Block Lab at the Hopkins Marine Station in Monterey Bay, where she and other researchers are involved with projects such as the Blue Serengeti Initiative, the Tag-A-Giant project, the Animal Telemetry Network, and the management of the Tuna Research and Conservation Center. Involved in the Census of Marine Life, Block was also the Chief Scientist for the Tagging of Pacific Predators program (TOPP). In addition, Block has embarked on several projects to track large populations of oceanic predators, resulting in new discoveries of certain population congregations in different locations such as the Caribbean Sea.

Movement and metabolism To study metabolism in the wild, Block and researchers have been able to use specific types of tags with speed- and temperature-measuring capabilities, where they can make a correlation between the speed of the animal with the amount of oxygen entering through the gills. They can compare this information to the temperature of the environment to determine the rate of metabolism and need for oxygen.

Awards

Rolex Award for Enterprise, Rolex (2012) Walter B. Cannon Award, American Physiological Society (2008) Pew Marine Conservation Fellow, Pew Foundation (1997)

Works "Philopatry and migration of Pacific white sharks". Jorgensen SJ, Reeb CA, Chapple TK, Anderson S, Perle C, Van Sommeran SR, Fritz-Cope C, Brown AC, Klimley AP, Block BA. Proc Biol Sci. 2010; 277 (1682): 679-88 "Seasonal movements, aggregations and diving behavior of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) revealed with archival tags". Walli A, Teo SL, Boustany A, Farwell CJ, Williams T, Dewar H, Prince E, Block BA. PLoS One. 2009; 4 (7): e6151 "Heterologous hybridization to a complementary DNA microarray reveals the effect of thermal acclimation in the endothermic bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis)". Castilho PC, Buckley BA, Somero G, Block BA. Mol Ecol. 2009; 18 (10): 2092-102 "Effect of thermal acclimation on action potentials and sarcolemmal K+ channels from Pacific bluefin tuna cardiomyocytes". Galli GL, Lipnick MS, Block BA. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2009; 297 (2): R502-9 "Influence of swimming speed on metabolic rates of juvenile pacific bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna". Blank JM, Farwell CJ, Morrissette JM, Schallert RJ, Block BA. Physiol Biochem Zool. 2007 Mar-Apr; 80 (2): 167-77 "Travelling light: white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) rely on body lipid stores to power ocean-basin scale migration". Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society Del Raye, G., Jorgensen, S. J., Krumhansl, K., Ezcurra, J. M., Block, B. A. "Temperature dependent pre- and postprandial activity in Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis)". Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part A, Molecular & integrative physiologyGleiss, A. C., Dale, J. J., Klinger, D. H., Estess, E. E., Gardner, L. D., Machado, B., Norton, A. G., Farwell, C., Block, B. A. 2019 "Movements of pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) in the Eastern North Pacific revealed with archival tags". International Symposium on Climate Impacts on Oceanic Top Predators (CLIOTOP)Boustany, A. M., Matteson, R., Castleton, M., Farwell, C., Block, B. A.