{{Short description|Brazilian-American Ichthyologist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Luiz A. Rocha | image = Luiz_Rocha_rebreather.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = <!-- {{birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = [[João Pessoa, Paraíba|João Pessoa]], [[Brazil]] | death_place = | citizenship = American | fields = [[Ichthyology]]<br>[[Marine conservation]]<br>[[Evolutionary biology]] | workplaces = [[California Academy of Sciences]] | alma_mater = [[University of Florida]]<br>[[Federal University of Paraiba]] | thesis_title = Ecology, the Amazon barrier, and speciation in western Atlantic Halichoeres (Labridae). | thesis_url = https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00050270/00001 | thesis_year = 2003 | doctoral_advisor = Brian Bowen | known_for = | occupation = | years_active = | notable_works = }}
'''Luiz Alves Rocha''' is the [[Curator]] and Follett Chair of [[Ichthyology]] at the [[California Academy of Sciences]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.calacademy.org/explore-science/luiz-rocha|title=Profile: Luiz A. Rocha|date=2016}}</ref> He is also an adjunct professor at the [[University of California, Santa Cruz|University of California Santa Cruz]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Adjunct & Affiliated Faculty|url=https://www.eeb.ucsc.edu/faculty/adj-aff-directory-page.php?uid=lrochafi|access-date=2021-02-27|website=www.eeb.ucsc.edu}}</ref> and [[San Francisco State University]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://biology.sfsu.edu/content/cas-research-professors|title=CAS Research Professors {{!}} SFSU Department of Biology|website=biology.sfsu.edu|access-date=2016-11-03}}</ref>
== Education == Rocha has obtained a PhD in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from the [[University of Florida]], and a BS in Biology and Masters in Zoology from the [[Federal University of Paraíba|Federal University of Paraiba]] in Brazil. He also conducted post-doctoral work at the [[Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute]] and the [[University of Hawaii]].
== Career == Rocha has authored one book<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes: From Alaska to California|last1=Kells|first1=Valerie A.|last2=Rocha|first2=Luiz A.|last3=Allen|first3=Larry G.|date=2016-01-22|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=9781421418322|language=en}}</ref> and more than 150 scientific articles.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Luiz A. Rocha - Google Scholar Citations|url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xVOucqgAAAAJ&hl=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-07|website=scholar.google.com}}</ref> He is best known for his work in speciation in coral reef fishes<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rocha|first1=Luiz A.|last2=Robertson|first2=D. Ross|last3=Roman|first3=Joe|last4=Bowen|first4=Brian W.|date=2005-03-22|title=Ecological speciation in tropical reef fishes|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences|language=en|volume=272|issue=1563|pages=573–579|doi=10.1098/2004.3005|issn=0962-8452|pmc=1564072|pmid=15817431}}</ref> using advanced genomic methodologies to understand fish evolution,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Gaither|first1=Michelle R.|last2=Bernal|first2=Moisés A.|last3=Coleman|first3=Richard R.|last4=Bowen|first4=Brian W.|last5=Jones|first5=Shelley A.|last6=Simison|first6=W. Brian|last7=Rocha|first7=Luiz A.|date=2015-04-01|title=Genomic signatures of geographic isolation and natural selection in coral reef fishes|journal=Molecular Ecology|language=en|volume=24|issue=7|pages=1543–1557|doi=10.1111/mec.13129|issn=1365-294X|pmid=25753379|doi-access=free|bibcode=2015MolEc..24.1543G }}</ref> and more recently has been actively exploring the diversity of deep ([[Mesophotic coral reef|mesophotic]]) coral reefs throughout the tropics.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rocha|first1=Luiz A.|last2=Pinheiro|first2=Hudson T.|last3=Shepherd|first3=Bart|last4=Papastamatiou|first4=Yannis P.|last5=Luiz|first5=Osmar J.|last6=Pyle|first6=Richard L.|last7=Bongaerts|first7=Pim|date=2018-07-20|title=Mesophotic coral ecosystems are threatened and ecologically distinct from shallow water reefs|journal=Science|language=en|volume=361|issue=6399|pages=281–284|doi=10.1126/science.aaq1614|issn=0036-8075|pmid=30026226|bibcode=2018Sci...361..281R|doi-access=free}}</ref>
He has also published an opinion piece in the [[The New York Times|New York Times]] about the problems associated with the creation of large marine protected areas in the open ocean,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rocha|first=Luiz A.|date=2018-03-20|title=Opinion {{!}} Bigger Is Not Better for Ocean Conservation|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/opinion/environment-ocean-conservation.html|access-date=2021-06-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and has evaluated the conservation status of hundreds of species for the IUCN Red List, including the endangered Social Wrasse.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Texas)|first=Luiz Rocha (University of|date=2015-08-03|title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Halichoeres socialis|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/en|access-date=2021-06-02|website=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species}}</ref>
== Taxon named in his honor == *The Parrotfish ''[[Sparisoma rocha]]'' <small>[[Hudson Tercio Pinheiro|Pinheiro]], [[João Luiz Gasparini|Gasparini]] & [[Ivan Sazima|I. Sazima]], 2010</small> and *The Sweeper fish '''Rocha's sweeper''' ''[[Pempheris rochai]]'' <small>[[John Ernest Randall|J. E. Randall]] & [[Benjamin C. Victor|Victor]], 2015</small> were named in Rocha's honor for his contributions to ichthyology.
== Honors and awards == In 2019 he won the inaugural [[Margaret Stewart (herpetologist)|Margaret M. Stewart]] Achievement Award for Excellence in Ichthyology or Herpetology for his scientific contributions and scholarly impacts on the field of ichthyology.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Stewart Award {{!}} American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists|url=https://asih.org/professional-awards/stewart-award|access-date=2020-11-24|website=asih.org}}</ref> In 2024, he was an awardee and inductee into the Explorers Club 50 (EC50).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luiz Rocha |url=https://50.explorers.org/community/luiz-rocha/ |access-date=2026-01-17 |website=The Explorers Club 50 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Taxon described by him== *See [[:Category:Taxa named by Luiz A. Rocha]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocha, Luiz}} [[Category:American ichthyologists]] [[Category:People associated with the California Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni]] [[Category:Federal University of Paraíba alumni]] [[Category:San Francisco State University faculty]] [[Category:University of California, Santa Cruz faculty]] [[Category:Brazilian ichthyologists]] [[Category:Brazilian taxonomists]] [[Category:American taxonomists]] [[Category:21st-century American zoologists]] [[Category:21st-century Brazilian zoologists]] [[Category:American evolutionary biologists]]