Musick honored for lifetime opus
Honoree Jack Musick
Jack Musick of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has been awarded the Commonwealth’s Lifetime Achievement in Science award for his work on the ecology and conservation of marine fishes and sea turtles. The award was announced by Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and Science Museum of Virginia Director Richard Conti.
Musick, emeritus and former Marshall Acuff Professor of Marine Science at VIMS, has earned an international reputation during a 40-year career in which he has authored or co-authored 150 research articles and advised 89 graduate students, the latter likely a record for marine science graduate education in the U.S. His annual field trip to study Virginia’s freshwater fishes—the Roanoke Round-up—has become a favorite tradition of VIMS graduate students.
Musick has also written or edited 12 books. Three of these—Biology of Sharks and their Relatives, The Biology of Sea Turtles and Fishes of Chesapeake Bay—are considered classics in their fields.
“Jack’s achievements are the envy of his peers,” says VIMS Dean and Director John Wells. “His research underlies conservation and management efforts for sharks and sea turtles worldwide, and his accomplishments in education are extraordinary. By personal example and direct training he teaches graduate students how to do science of the highest caliber. Jack is a scholar who produces scholars.” 
