Erik Chapman

Erik Chapman is acting director of New Hampshire Sea Grant at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). His research focuses on the influence of environmental variability, including climate change, on marine organisms and ecosystems. He teaches sustainable marine fisheries at Shoals Marine Laboratory; has taught introductory marine biology and ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences; and since 2009 has worked as a fisheries extension specialist for NH Sea Grant and UNH Cooperative Extension. One of his more recent projects has been in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy. This includes the project Ben has been working on, which emerged from listening to fishermen explain how they saw the marine ecosystem changing in response to changes in ocean temperature. Dr. Chapman says it has been incredible to see Ben’s skills in scientific inquiry develop over the course of this project. The kind of trust that Ben built with the fishermen is, he says, “priceless in the field of collaborative research.” Dr. Chapman is experienced in mentoring undergraduates and is the faculty sponsor for the UNH Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture Club, and Ben is his first Inquiry author.