Les Kaufman

About

Les Kaufman is a Professor of Biology at Boston University, with a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. His laboratory is dedicated to understanding the processes that create, maintain, extinguish, and conserve aquatic biodiversity across marine, freshwater, and watershed ecosystems in both temperate and tropical environments. His research focuses on two main areas: the fundamental dynamics of coupled human-natural systems (CHANS), which underpin sustainable economies and ecosystems inhabited by people, and the study of degradation and regenerative processes on coral reefs. In his work on CHANS, Kaufman employs modern observational and experimental methods, along with computer modeling and decision tools like MIMES-MIDAS, to explore ecosystem service tradeoffs and scenario outcomes under different policies. His empirical contributions include fieldwork in community ecology, fish biology, fisheries science, and food web reconstruction. His coral reef research involves active field sites such as Biscayne Bay, the Florida Reef Tract, the Mesoamerican Reef, and the Phoenix Islands, where he conducts experiments in coral ontogeny and restoration, often collaborating with conservation organizations and universities. Kaufman is also engaged in aquatic conservation policy and innovation, working closely with various labs at Boston University, conservation organizations, and government agencies. He serves on the Steering Committee for NOAA’s Coral Restoration Consortium and is…

Research topics

• Geography
• Ecology
• Biology
• Fishery
• Virology
• Medicine
• Environmental science
• Environmental resource management
• Natural resource economics
• Economics

Selected publications

• The costs and benefits of primary prevention of zoonotic pandemics

  Science Advances · 2022 · 284 citations

  The lives lost and economic costs of viral zoonotic pandemics have steadily increased over the past century. Prominent policymakers have promoted plans that argue the best ways to address future pandemic catastrophes should entail, "detecting and containing emerging zoonotic threats." In other words, we should take actions only after humans get sick. We sharply disagree. Humans have extensive contact with wildlife known to harbor vast numbers of viruses, many of which have not yet spilled into h…

  PublisherDOI

• Designing a blueprint for coral reef survival

  Biological Conservation · 2021 · 161 citations

  Maintaining coral reef ecosystems is a social imperative, because so many people depend on coral reefs for food production, shoreline protection, and livelihoods. The survival of reefs this century, however, is threatened by the mounting effects of climate change. Climate mitigation is the foremost and essential action to prevent coral reef ecosystem collapse. Without it, reefs will become extremely diminished within the next 20–30 years. Even with strong climate mitigation, however, existing co…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Six priorities to advance the science and practice of coral reef restoration worldwide

  Restoration Ecology · 2021-09-20 · 125 citations

  articleOpen access

  Coral reef restoration is a rapidly growing movement galvanized by the accelerating degradation of the world's tropical coral reefs. The need for concerted and collaborative action focused on the recovery of coral reef ecosystems coalesced in the creation of the Coral Restoration Consortium (CRC) in 2017. In March 2020, the CRC leadership team met for a biennial review of international coral reef restoration efforts and a discussion of perceived knowledge and implementation bottlenecks that may…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Cycles of fusion and fission enabled rapid parallel adaptive radiations in African cichlids

  Science · 2023-09-28 · 107 citations

  article

  Although some lineages of animals and plants have made impressive adaptive radiations when provided with ecological opportunity, the propensities to radiate vary profoundly among lineages for unknown reasons. In Africa's Lake Victoria region, one cichlid lineage radiated in every lake, with the largest radiation taking place in a lake less than 16,000 years old. We show that all of its ecological guilds evolved in situ. Cycles of lineage fusion through admixture and lineage fission through speci…

  PublisherDOI

• Sensitivity of sand lance to shifting prey and hydrography indicates forthcoming change to the northeast US shelf forage fish complex

  ICES Journal of Marine Science · 2020-12-23 · 40 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Northern sand lance (Ammodytes dubius) and Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) represent the dominant lipid-rich forage fish species throughout the Northeast US shelf and are critical prey for numerous top predators. However, unlike Atlantic herring, there is little research on sand lance or information about drivers of their abundance. We use intra-annual measurements of sand lance diet, growth, and condition to explain annual variability in sand lance abundance on the Northeast US Shel…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Andrew L. Rhyne

  Roger Williams University

  28 shared

• Colin A. Chapman

  George Washington University

  19 shared

• James A. Morris

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  18 shared

• Michael F. Tlusty

  University of Massachusetts Boston

  17 shared

• Ronaldo B. Francini‐Filho

  Universidade de São Paulo

  15 shared

• Rodrigo L. Moura

  Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

  13 shared

• David N. Wiley

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  12 shared

• Elizabeth M. Burmester

  Boston University

  12 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  Johns Hopkins University

  1980

Awards & honors

• NOAA’s Coral Restoration Consortium Steering Committee (seco…

Similar researchers at Boston University

• David J. Waxmanh-97
• Jerry Chenh-96
• Richard B. Primackh-83