biology

Steven J. Cooke

Steven J. Cooke is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Steven J. Cooke rather than just read about it. In short: Steven J. Cooke is a Canadian biologist specializing in ecology and conservation physiology of fish.

Key takeaways

Steven J. Cooke belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Steven J. Cooke to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Steven J. Cooke from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Steven J. Cooke is a Canadian biologist specializing in ecology and conservation physiology of fish. He is best known for his integrative work on fish physiology, behaviour, ecology, and human-dimensions to understand and solve complex environmental problems. He currently is a Canada Research Professor in Environmental Science and Biology at Carleton University. He serves as a Canadian Commissioner for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and as the Editor-in-Chief of the American Fisheries Society magazine Fisheries, Senior Editor of the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence journal Environmental Evidence, and Emeritus Editor and Strategic Advisor for the journal Conservation Physiology.

Education Cooke started his postsecondary education at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada (1993-1999) where he attained a Bachelor of Environmental Studies and a master's in biology. Cooke completed his doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1999-2002) with David Philipp and David Wahl where he studied the physiological diversity of sunfish in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences.

Career Following his Ph.D., Dr. Cooke accepted a post-doctoral position (with support from NSERC and the Killam Trust) with the Centre for Applied Conservation Research at the University of British Columbia (2002-2005) where he studied the migration biology of sockeye salmon with Dr. Scott Hinch and Dr. Tony Farrell. He joined the professoriate in 2005 and now is a Full Professor of Environmental Science and Biology at Carleton University. He is also the Canada Research Chair in Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology. His Carleton research lab consists of approximately 30 members, including undergraduate and graduate students and post docs, and he teaches specialized courses in aquatic biology and ecology. He has launched the careers of several prominent biologists, including Forbes 30 Under 30 Winner in Science Dr. Austin Gallagher, who was a postdoctoral fellow in his lab at the time. He serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Forest and Conservation Science at the University of British Columbia, an adjunct professor in the Biology Department at the University of Waterloo, an affiliate at the Illinois Natural History Survey and is a Special Graduate Faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2014 he was appointed as Director of the Institute of Environmental Science at Carleton University which became the Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Science in July 2018. Cooke held a Tier II Canada Research Chair from 2009 to 2019. In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Cooke is the Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford University Press’s journal Conservation Physiology Oxford Journals | Life Sciences | Conservation Physiology on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. He also serves on the editorial boards for FACETS, Environmental Reviews, Socio-Ecological Practice Research, and Environmental Biology of Fishes. In 2009 he published and edited a book (with Dr. David Philipp) on the biology and management of centrarchid fishes titled Centrarchid Fishes: Diversity, Biology and Conservation. He was the president of the Canadian Aquatic Resources Section of the American Fisheries Society from 2011-2013 and served as the Chair of the Sea Lamprey Research Board of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission from 2013-2023 before becoming Chair of their Board of Technical Experts in 2023. He is Past President of the International Section of the American Fisheries Society (served as president from 2017-2018) and Past President of the Society for Canadian Aquatic Sciences (served as president from 2023-2024), a society he helped found. He was previously involved in leadership roles with NSERC HydroNet and Ocean Tracking Network. In 2013 he delivered a TEDx talk on the future of recreational fishing. He is a Science Ambassador and Board Chair for KeepFishWet Fishing. Cooke launched the Canadian Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation and Environmental Management in 2014 - an affiliate of the UK-based Collaboration for Environmental Evidence. In 2014 Cooke conceived and launched the "Legends in Canadian Fisheries Science and Management" initiative to recognize luminaries in Canadian fisheries through the Canadian Aquatic Resources Section of the American Fisheries Society. As of February 2026, Dr. Cooke has published over 1200 peer-reviewed scientific papers.

Notable awards and honours In 2005, Cooke received the Award of Excellence from the Fisheries Management Section of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) jointly with Drs. Scott Hinch, Tony Farrell and Mike Healey. In 2008 he received the FSBI Medal from the Fisheries Society of the British Isles. In 2009 he jointly won the Distinguished Service Award from AFS. In 2013, he was selected as the J.C. Stevenson Lecturer for the Canadian Conference for Fisheries Research and the same year received the Roderick Haig-Brown Award from the Canadian Wildlife Federation. In 2015, Cooke was named an NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellow. Cooke is also a "Research Fellow" for Bonefish and Tarpon Trust. In 2015 Cooke was elected into the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists and served as the Secretary and member of the RSC's Council (2017-2019) and was subsequently elected as a Fellow in 2022. In 2017 Cooke became a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and in 2018 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Fisheries Society. In 2018 he was named the TD Walter Bean Visiting Professor in the Environment at the University of Waterloo. In 2019 he was named the Robin Welcomme Fellow in Inland Fisheries at Michigan State University. In 2002-2024 Cooke was a Distinguished Presidential Scholar with the Chinese Academy of Science and during his sabbatical in 2024/2025 was a visiting scholar in the Zoology Department at Cambridge University. Cooke was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2022. In 2021 he received the Marsh Award for Marine and Freshwater Conservation from the Zoological Society of London and in 2024 received the Conservation Award from the International Game Fish Association.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Steven J. Cooke

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Steven J. Cooke claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Steven J. Cooke before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Steven J. Cooke ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Steven J. Cooke

In research: Steven J. Cooke appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Steven J. Cooke in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Steven J. Cooke is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century Canadian zoologists, Academic staff of Carleton University, Canada Research Chairs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Steven J. Cooke outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Steven J. Cooke in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Steven J. Cooke means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Steven J. Cooke out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Steven J. Cooke in simple terms?

Steven J. Cooke is a Canadian biologist specializing in ecology and conservation physiology of fish.

Why does Steven J. Cooke matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Steven J. Cooke?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Steven J. Cooke.