Thomas C. Shirley, Ph.D.

Endowed Chair of Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi.

Dr. Shirley is a world authority on oceanic invertebrates who has participated in more than 40 research cruises and 12 submersible research projects. Most recently he has been exploring assemblages of animals on deep sea corals and seamounts in the Gulf of Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands.

Tom is a former Director of the Fisheries Division, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and has been the Principal Investigator on 11 manned submersible projects, including the DSV Alvin, Pisces V and Delta subs. He has published more than 100 articles, books and proceedings on systematics and ecology of marine organisms, including descriptions of new species from three phyla from the Arctic, Antarctic, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean, Philippines and Alaska.