Barbara Block
![](https://swap.stanford.edu/was/20170911010949im_/https://woods.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/content_image_150x200/public/barbara-block.jpg?itok=XzA3eePz)
Barbara Block
Affiliate - Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment; Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Professor in Marine Sciences
Type:
Affiliate
School:
Humanities and Sciences
Additional Information:
Center for Ocean Solutions
Research Area(s):
Oceans
Biography
Barbara Block is the Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Professor in Marine Sciences in the Department of Biology. Her lab is based at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station. Her research focuses on how large pelagic fishes utilize the open ocean environment. Investigations center upon understanding the evolution of heat management strategies in tunas, billfishes, and sharks. Block and her colleagues investigate the cellular mechanisms underlying heat generation and force production in skeletal muscle, the evolution of internal heat production, and the physiological ecology of tunas and billfishes. The research in the lab is interdisciplinary, combining physiology, ecology, and genetics with oceanography and engineering.
Block and colleagues at the Monterey Bay Aquarium also established the Tuna Research and Conservation Center, a unique facility that permits physiological research on tunas. They are employing new techniques in remote wildlife tracking and data collection, and molecular genetics to directly examine the short and long-term movement patterns, population structure and behavior of tunas and billfishes. The fish are highly exploited in international fisheries and effective management of existing biodiversity requires an understanding of their biology and population structure. The Block lab actively engages in research at sea to understand the movements and physiological ecology of tunas and billfishes and to gain insight into the selective advantage of heat production in fishes.
Block received her PhD from Duke University.
Selected Publications by this Author
News & Press Releases
![Bluefin tuna Bluefin tuna](https://swap.stanford.edu/was/20170911010949im_/https://woods.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/styles/content_image/public/images/news/tuna.jpg?itok=p8yvLX5A)
The unique system of hydraulic control of fins discovered in tuna indicates a new role for the lymphatic system in vertebrates. This natural mechanism may inspire designs for new "smart" control surfaces with changeable shape and stiffness for both air and underwater unmanned vehicles.
By Taylor Kubota,
View More News & Press Releases
Media Coverage
Coverage: The Biological Hydraulic System on the Tuna and it's Implications for Mechanics »
Barbara Block's research is cited on the use of the Tuna's lymphatic system to control its dorsal and anal fins to navigate the sea.
‘Shark Week’ Caps Off With Monterey Bay Episode, Shot by Sharks and Drone »
Discusses work of Senior Fellow Barbara Block (Biology) to monitor the western coast of North America using electronic tags on marine predators.
By Kara Guzman,
Bluefin Tuna, Once Bountiful, Now in Peril »
Woods senior fellow, by courtesy, Barbara Block (biology) warns that the bluefin is trouble because of decades of overfishing.
By Joe Rosato Jr.,