Dr. Bradley G. Stevens received the honorary status of Professor Emeritus in recognition of his distinguished career as a marine and environmental science educator by President Heidi M. Anderson during the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Spring 2022 Commencement. From 2009-2021, he served as the Distinguished Research Scientist for the Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center at UMES.
Stevens received 20 funded research grants totaling $1.45 million while at UMES, started a scuba diving program and mentored eight masters and five doctoral students who studied the biology of crabs, conchs, corals and fish in Maryland waters. Collectively, they have published over 70 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.
According to his biography, at the age of four, he was “bitten with marine biology when a crab pinched him on the toe.” Since then, he has spent most of his career “studying the biology of crabs and eating as many as possible.” After receiving his Ph.D. in fisheries science from the University of Washington in 1982, Stevens worked in Alaska for 22 years studying king and snow crabs. In 2014, he published, “King Crabs of the World – Their Biology and Fishery Management.”
A lifelong scuba diver, Stevens discovered the 1860 wreck of the Russian ship Kad’yak in Alaska, which became the topic of another book. When not sailing or kayaking, Stevens can occasionally be found playing Irish music in local pubs. He tells all of his students, “Always study something you can eat.”
Stevens relayed a special message to the commencement audience, “For all of the UMES students who are the first in their family to graduate, I would like you to know that education will make all the difference in your lives. My great-grandparents did not complete high school, but my grandfather Stevens acquired a Doctor of Divinity and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Michigan.”
“The value of your education,” he said, “will be passed on to your children and to theirs for many generations.”
“My doctoral robe,” he continued, “was hand-sewn by my grandmother in 1928 for my grandfather’s Ph.D. graduation. It was worn again when my cousin Guy Stevens received his Ph.D. from Yale in 1970, and again when I graduated from the University of Washington in 1982. This may be the last time it is worn, but I hope it will be passed on to another generation, as historical evidence of a love for education.”
The above information was provided by UMES University Relations.
