Rate My Professor Steve Ross

Steve W. Ross is an adjunct professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, with primary affiliation to the Center for Marine Science. He earned his BS in Zoology from Duke University in 1974, MA in Zoology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1978, and PhD in Zoology from North Carolina State University in 1990, with a dissertation on population dynamics of juvenile spot, Atlantic croaker, and Atlantic menhaden in North Carolina estuarine nursery areas. Ross's professional career commenced as Fishery Biologist with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries from 1979 to 1985. Subsequently, he served as Program Research Coordinator for the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve from 1990 to 2003 under the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, allied with UNCW's Center for Marine Science, while holding adjunct faculty positions at UNCW and North Carolina State University and supervising graduate students. In 2003, he became Research Professor at UNCW Center for Marine Science, a grant-funded role sustained until his retirement in November 2014. He retained adjunct faculty status thereafter and continued active research, including as Chief Scientist for OceanGate Expeditions from 2021 to 2023, leading dives to the RMS Titanic shipwreck.

Ross's academic interests center on ichthyology and marine ecology spanning rivers, streams, estuaries, coastal systems, continental shelves, reefs, and deep-sea habitats to 4,000 meters. Over his 45-year career, he participated in 49 offshore research cruises from 1971 to 2023 across 19 research ships, 8 submersibles, and 6 remotely operated vehicles, serving as Chief Scientist on 33 expeditions. Notable projects encompass Lophelia I and II deep-water coral studies, Chemo III chemosynthetic communities research, and surveys of submarine canyons in the Gulf of Mexico, mid-Atlantic US slope, Norfolk Canyon methane seeps, and The Gully off Nova Scotia. His work has illuminated deep-sea coral ecosystems, demersal fish assemblages, habitat utilization, and trophic connectivity. With more than 150 publications garnering over 4,000 citations, prominent contributions include "The fish fauna associated with deep coral banks off the Southeastern United States" (2007), "Demersal fish distribution and habitat use within and near Baltimore and Norfolk Canyons, U.S. middle Atlantic slope" (2015), "State of deep coral ecosystems in the U.S. southeast region: Cape Hatteras to southeastern Florida" (2007), and "Megafauna of the RMS Titanic shipwreck and a nearby seamount ridge in the deep sea of the Western North Atlantic" (2025). Ross has co-described new deep-water species such as hagfish, snake eels, and gobies, and serves as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Marine Science.