Roger Hewitt, Ph.D.
Roger Hewitt, Ph.D.
Roger Hewitt is currently the Assistant Director of the SWFSC. He has led dozens of expeditions and field surveys throughout the world over a career spanning 50+ years. He has worked in the Bering Sea, the Aleutian Islands, the coastal archipelago of southeast Alaska and British Columbia, the California Current along the west coast of North America, the east and gulf coasts of the US, the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. For 16-years he led annual surveys of the Antarctic coastal ecosystem in the Scotia Sea and its archipelagos. Building on the results of this field research, he developed a variety of management options for the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). He was the long-term convener of CCAMLR’s Working Group on Ecosystem Monitoring and Management and served as the lead scientific advisor on the US delegation to the Commission. Subsequently, he served as Director of the Fisheries Resources Division at NOAA’s Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC), leading a group of biologists, oceanographers, population modelers, and economists providing advice on management of west coast marine fisheries. More recently he was involved in the design and construction of the Center’s La Jolla Laboratory and the NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker.
Dr. Hewitt’s past research interests include the use of acoustics to conduct resource surveys, foraging tactics of whales, seals, penguins and other seabirds in relation to their prey, biological responses to climatic variability, and resource management schemes that incorporate ecosystem considerations. He has authored over 100 papers, book chapters and reports.
Roger holds a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, as well as a Ship Masters License from the US Coast Guard and Professional Engineering and Land Surveyor licenses from the State of California. He, his wife of 55-years, and two fully-fledged sons and their families live in San Diego. His hobbies include surfing and photography.