Rate My Professor Jay Stauffer

Jay R. Stauffer Jr. is a Distinguished Professor of Ichthyology in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management at Pennsylvania State University, where he has served since 1984, advancing from associate professor to his current distinguished role in 2007. A prominent figure in Biology, particularly the study of fishes, he earned his B.S. in Fisheries Science from Cornell University in 1972 and his Ph.D. in Biology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1975. Earlier in his career, Stauffer worked as a biologist at Ichthyological Associates and held research assistant positions at Cornell and Virginia Tech. From 1975 to 1984, he was an assistant and then associate professor at the Appalachian Environmental Laboratory of the University of Maryland. His academic interests encompass endangered fishes, freshwater fish behavior, the impact of introduced fishes, and the systematics and zoogeography of freshwater fishes.

Stauffer's prolific research includes over 170 publications and extensive work on biodiversity in Lake Malawi, where he has described numerous new cichlid species, such as Cyrtocara macrocleithrum (1985), a facultative cleanerfish (1991), and a revision of the blue-black Pseudotropheus zebra complex introducing a new genus and ten new species (1997). His studies also cover schistosomiasis control through ecological interactions among schistosomes, snails, humans, and fish predators, as well as invasive species effects on native fishes in Pennsylvania watersheds. As principal or co-principal investigator on over 140 funded projects from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and others, his contributions address conservation, invasives, and public health. Honors include American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow (2021), Fulbright Research Scholarships to Malawi (1990-1991, 1995-1996), Phi Sigma Award and Sigma Xi Research Award (1974), and certification as Professional Fisheries Biologist. He chairs the department's Promotion and Tenure Committee, the University Committee of Systematic Collections, and serves on advisory commissions for rare fishes in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Stauffer teaches ichthyology, systematics, and ecology of fishes.