Lisa Kerr Is the First Woman to Win the Fishery Conservation Award From the American Fisheries Society

Lisa Kerr, associate professor at the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences, received the American Fisheries Society’s 2023 Carl R. Sullivan Fishery Conservation Award at the society’s annual meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Kerr is the first woman to receive this award since its founding in 1991.

The Carl R. Sullivan Fishery Conservation Award, known as the “Sully,” was created in 1991 and was first awarded to Carl Sullivan shortly before his death. It is awarded annually in his memory. It is presented to an individual or organization, professional or nonprofessional, for outstanding contributions to the conservation of fishery resources.

Dr. Kerr’s research aims to bring climate information to bear on fishery stock assessment and management processes in order to inform progress toward sustainable management of marine fisheries and ecosystems. She regularly advises on regional, national, and international fisheries management issues.

Dr. Kerr joined the faculty of the University of Maine’s School of Marine Science in October 2022. She is based at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, Maine.  Earlier, she served for a decade as the director of the Quantitative Fisheries Research Lab at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.

A graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Dr. Kerr went on to earn a master’s degree in marine science from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. in marine, estuarine, and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland.