Dr. Jeffrey C. Carrier
W.W. Diehl Trustees' Professor of Biology ~ Department of Biology ~ Albion College ~ Albion, MI
Dr. Jeffrey Carrier has been a faculty member at Albion College since 1979. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Miami in 1974.
Dr. Carrier is the Biology Department's Physiologist and teaches classes in General Physiology, Pathophysiology, Marine Biology, Endocrinology, and the Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes. He also participates in the introductory biology sequence, teaching labs and lecturing in Cell and Molecular Biology. Outside the Biology Department, he has team-taught Art and the Environment as a first-year seminar course with Dr. Bille Wickre of the Department of Art and Art History.
His primary research interests center on studies of aging, growth, migration, and reproductive biology of nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum) in the Florida Keys. His studies with long-time colleague Harold L. "Wes" Pratt of Mote Marine Laboratory document the courtship and mating behaviors of nurse sharks, and his work has been featured on numerous television shows.
The Biology Department has long been committed to faculty/student research. With the Biology Department's Geneticist, Dr. Ken Saville, Carrier, two Albion College students, and Wes Pratt, published a paper in 2002 revealing multiple paternity in litters of nurse sharks. Additionally a paper written with former student, Nick Whitney (Class of 2000) and Wes Pratt, examining reproductive behaviors in whitetip reef sharks (Triaenodon obesus), appeared in the December 2004 issue of Animal Behavior. A more recent paper published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (October, 2007) was published with Carrier and Derek Burkholder (Class of 2004) and documented changes in shark populations through time in the Florida Keys.
Carrier's book, a comprehensive review of the phylogeny, zoogeography, physiological processes, and ecology and life histories of sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras, Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives, co-edited with Dr. Jack Musick of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences and Dr. Mike Heithaus of Florida International University, was published by CRC Press, LLC (March, 2004). The book was awarded a 2004 Choice Award by the American Library Association. From the A.L.A. announcement: "Choice editors base their selections on the reviewer's evaluation of the work, the editor's knowledge of the field, and the reviewer's record. The list was known as Outstanding Academic Books until 2000. The new name reflects an increase in reviews of electronic products and Internet sites. In awarding Outstanding Academic Titles, the editors apply several criteria to reviewed titles:
- overall excellence in presentation and scholarship
- importance relative to other literature in the field
- distinction as a first treatment of a given subject in book or electronic form
- originality or uniqueness of treatment
- value to undergraduate students
- importance in building undergraduate library collections"
A second Volume is currently in production.
Carrier has been a longtime, active member of the American Elasmobranch Society (AES), having served as Secretary, Secretary-Editor, and a member of the Board of Directors. He completed two terms as President of AES at the end of 2007.
Carrier and his students have appeared in 17 shows produced for network and cable television ranging from National Geographic Explorer and Discovery Channel specials to Florida Public Television documentaries and segments for Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures and FOX Television’s Wild Animal Moments series. His most recent collaboration has been with the remote imaging laboratory of the National Geographic Society and Dr. Mike Heithaus of Florida International University. These projects resulted in the production of an episode for the National Geographic Television series Crittercam Chronicles.
In addition to his studies of shark reproductive behavior, Carrier has been collaborating with the National Geographic Society's Remote Imaging Laboratory to utilize Crittercam, an animal-borne video and data recording system, as an adjunct to studies of courtship and mating behaviors. A Crittercam carried by a 256cm (8.4 feet) male nurse shark during the 2001 pilot study is shown below (left) as the large object attached below the first dorsal fin. A small VEMCO® Ultrasonic Transmitter, the smaller, red, cylindrical object below the second dorsal fin, is also used to aid in tracking these animals. A pectoral fin mount - tried for the first time in June, 2002 - is shown on the female nurse shark below (right). National Geographic On-Line joined Carrier and Pratt in the field for a week in June, 2002, and articles featuring their field study are featured on Geographic's On-Line website (Geographic On-Line stories). This study is part of an on-going collaboration between Albion College, Florida International University, and the National Geographic Society's Remote Imaging Lab, and is supported in part with funding from NOAA's Sea Grant National Strategic Initiative Program, the W.W. Diehl Trustees' Professorship, and Hewlett-Mellon Faculty Development funds from Albion College.
The above photograph is © Harold L. Pratt, Jr. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The above photograph is © Jeffrey C. Carrier. All rights reserved.
"The true biologist deals with life, with teeming boisterous life. And learns from it. Leans that the first law of life is living."
John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"For in the end,
We will conserve only what we love.
We will love only what we understand.
We will understand only what we are taught."Baba Dioum, Senegal Ministry of Agriculture