Rate My Professor Ed Hale

Ed Hale is an Assistant Professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware, affiliated with the Delaware Sea Grant College Program as Fisheries and Aquaculture Specialist. He leads the Hale Lab, focusing on applied research in fisheries and aquaculture. Hale earned a B.S. in Marine Science from Stockton University in 2007 and a Ph.D. in Marine Biosciences from the University of Delaware in 2013. His professional career includes prior roles as Marine Advisory Specialist at Delaware Sea Grant (2018-2022), Biometrician for the State of Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife (2014-2018), Interpretive Specialist for the New Jersey Department of Parks and Forestry (2013-2014), and Fisheries Specialist at the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (2012-2013).

Hale's research specializations encompass fisheries ecology, fisheries oceanography, aquaculture, and shellfish aquaculture, with emphasis on population dynamics and environmental drivers of fish abundance in the Mid-Atlantic region, sustainable oyster farming, diadromous and estuarine fishes, and aquaculture impacts on aquatic communities. Key publications include "Abundance Estimate for and Habitat Use by Early Juvenile Atlantic Sturgeon within the Delaware River Estuary" (Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 2016), "Composition and temporal patterns of larval fish communities in Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, USA" (Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2015), "The North American Freshwater Migratory Fish Database (NAFMFD): Characterizing the migratory life histories of freshwater fishes of Canada, the United States and Mexico" (Journal of Biogeography, 2022), and "Vertical distribution of larval Atlantic Menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) and Atlantic Croaker (Micropogonias undulatus): implications for vertical migratory behavior and transport" (Fisheries Oceanography, 2018). He has presented at conferences such as the World Aquaculture Society Aquaculture America (2023) and American Fisheries Society meetings. Hale serves as President of the Northeastern Division of the American Fisheries Society (2021) and Mid-Atlantic Chapter (2017), member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Advisory Panel on Shad and River Herring, board member of the Delaware Aquaculture Association, and member of the State of Delaware Shellfish Advisory Council to the Governor and the World Aquaculture Society.