Biological and fisheries oceanographer Evgeny Pakhomov has been appointed director of the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries.
The appointment is effective March 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019 with the possibility of an extension for an additional two years.
Pakhomov's research focuses on physical-biological interactions in the oceans, a critical field of study for predicting ecosystem response driven by climate change.
"Evgeny is committed to the Institute and I look forward to working with him to advance IOF's world-renowned research and education initiatives," said Simon Peacock, Dean of Science.
"I'd also like to express my profound thanks to Villy Christensen and Andrew Trites for serving as co-directors for the past 1.5 years. Under their leadership, the Institute was successfully launched and quickly grew to include faculty from across the disciplines at UBC."
Pakhomov earned his PhD in 1992 from the PP Shirshov Institute of Oceanology in the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. From 1993 to 2003, he held research and faculty positions in South Africa before joining UBC in 2003 as an assistant professor. Pakhomov is currently a professor with UBC Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences and an active member of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries.
An author on 160 peer-reviewed papers, Pakhomov's collaborative research program is funded by NSERC, the Tula Foundation, and other agencies. He has supervised more than 20 graduate students and taught a wide variety of oceanography courses, from first-year undergraduate classes to advanced graduate seminars.
