Ronald Keith O’Dor

Census of Marine Life (COML) Senior Scientist O’Dor just received $45 million to develop the Ocean Tracking Network, which will revolutionize the way fish are tracked and oceans managed.

With this kind of technology, we will be able to learn more about individual species’ responses to climate change and how the different inhabitants of the seas interact with each other.

After completing degrees in biochemistry and medical physiology, O’Dor embarked on his post-doc at Cambridge University and Stazione Zoologica, Naples, and decided to turn his attention to cephalopods and marine biology. Studies on cephalopod behaviour and physiology using acoustic telemetry led to involvement in large-scale tracking arrays.

At COML he will be able to track marine animals from salmon to whales. Tags lasting up to 20 years will give new time-series perspectives on changes in individual movements.