Richard Aspinall has worked in the conservation field for over two decades and has been photographing the underwater world since he learnt to dive seven years ago. Richard is now a freelance writer and photographer and works for a number of magazines. Richard is also the editor of UltraMarine Magazine, the UK’s premier magazine for marine aquarists . Richard also shoots the world above the water line and runs another photography and journalism business: Aspinallink along with his wife Angela, he is based in Yorkshire, England. See more at: www.triggerfishphotography.co.uk www.aspinallink.co.uk
James Fatherree is a science instructor at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. He has been keeping marine aquariums for 20 years, and has spent many days diving in Florida, the Bahamas, Hawaii, Japan, and Indonesia, too. In the past, he also managed an aquarium store, owned and operated an aquarium installation and maintenance business, and worked for an aquarium livestock collector/wholesaler in Florida. James has also published over 250 articles in various aquarium magazines in the U.S. and Europe, and has written and illustrated several books on the topics of reef organisms and marine aquariums, the latest of which is Giant Clams in the Sea and the Aquarium. For more about the author, visit his homepage at www.fatherree.com/james, or look him up on Facebook.
Paul Whitby is originally from the UK, but now resides in Oklahoma USA. While in the UK, he received his Doctorate in the microbiology of fish diseases, specifically diseases of fish with high economic importance and has published several articles in this field as well as medical microbiology. Currently he is an Associate Professor at the University of Oklahoma where he specializes in the microbiology of pediatric infectious diseases. Paul is the current President of the Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society (COMAS) and has had several articles published in Reef Keeping online magazine and ReefBuilders. He has published several articles on COMAS, the development of a captive propagation program to conserve coral species, pests and parasites in marine aquaria as well as numerous reviews. In October 2007 his SPS dominated display tank was selected as Reef Keeping Magazine’s Tank of the Month. Paul has presented several marine aquarium related seminars at local clubs and conferences including Oklahoma’s CRASE, Reef Fest, ReefStock, NERAC, IMAC west and others. He has been keeping saltwater aquariums for over 22 years and has owned a variety of tanks ranging from under 30 to in excess of 600 gallons. His current system, including filtration, is over 1,000 gallons.
Pedro Nuno Ferreira hails from Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, which is the town were, in fact, Port Wine is prepared. He has been keeping aquatic animals for 32 years and marine animals for 21. He is a moderator with administrative duties on www.reefforum.net, a Portuguese forum with more than 7000 members. Pedro speaks and writes several languages and thus translates many aquarium articles into Portuguese.
Rich Ross has been keeping saltwater animals for over 20 years, and has worked in aquarium maintenance, retail aquarium stores, and marine wholesalers and is currently an Aquatic Biologist at the Steinhart Aquarium, California Academy of Sciences. He is a writer/photographer for Advanced Aquarist, Reef Hobbyist Magazine and C the Journal of Aquatic Science, Travel and Adventure. He has been a crew member at wet web media and is currently a Site Administrator at Reefs.org. When not working or squeezing his family, or shooting video underwater, he maintains a 300 gallon reef system and a 250 cephalopod culture system in his home
Sanjay Joshi in real life is a Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Penn State University. He has been a reef addict since 1992, and currently keeps several reef aquariums at home including a 500G SPS coral dominated reef. He also co-manages the 500G aquarium at Penn State. He has published several articles in magazines such as Marine Fish and Reef Annual, Aquarium Frontiers, Aquarium Fish, and Advanced Aquarist. In addition, he has been an invited speaker at several marine aquarium society meetings in the US and Europe. He received the MASNA award in 2006, for his contributions to the marine aquarium hobby.
Todd Gardner has been studying marine life since he was old enough to walk. He has an extensive background in marine sciences and has written numerous scientific and popular articles about his research and experiences collecting, keeping, and culturing marine organisms. In 1993 he graduated from East Stroudsburg University with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and marine science. After graduation he spent a year working for Blue Earth Films, assisting in the production of a National Geographic Explorer feature film about coastal marine life. Todd spent the next 3 years working at the world’s largest marine ornamental fish hatchery, where he worked on developing technology for the production of new marine species. In 1998 Todd left commercial aquaculture to pursue a Master of Science degree in biology at New York’s Hofstra University where he completed a thesis on the early nutrition of the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus. Todd is currently working as an aquarist at Atlantis Marine World where he cares for a number of exhibit tanks, leads collecting expeditions, and continues his aquaculture research behind the scenes. In his spare time, Todd dives, photographs marine life and plays in a blues band.
Jay F. Hemdal l is curator of fishes at a large U.S. zoo / aquarium and is actively involved in the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums). He is the author of over 130 articles for a dozen different aquarium magazines and scientific publications since his first article about sharks was published in Freshwater and Marine Aquarium magazine back in 1981.He has also written five books: Aquarium Careers, Aquarium Fish Breeding, Advanced Marine Aquarium Techniques, Bugs as Pets, and Miniature Aquariums.
Lissa Mann has been keeping saltwater fish for a mere six years and thinks reef tanks are a cruel mistress. She currently has a 75g mixed reef saltwater aquarium. When she is not putting her hands in her tank, she is attempting to do Real Science in order to pay for her expensive hobbies. She also enjoys taking photos now and again.
Randy Donowitz has been keeping aquariums most of his life. The mid 1980s and 90s was consumed with the breeding of African Cichlids. In 1994 he purchased his first marine system- a simple 55 gallon reef setup and he has been an incurable coralholic ever since. Randy’s articles have appeared in numerous hobbyist publications including Aquarium Frontiers, Advanced Aquarist, Marine Fish and Reef USA Annual and Aquarium Fish magazine. Currently, he curates and maintains the 3 system, 700 gallon coral reef display at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY where he enjoys the privilege of sharing his knowledge and love of the hobby with students, staff, and community members from around the Tri-State area.
Josh Saul is a consultant for Fortune 500 finance and banking companies. He has been involved in the aquarium hobby for 11 years and has been SCUBA diving for over 20. He spends his spare time planning dive trips, designing websites, DJing, and finding new and exciting ways to flood his apartment. He is married with two children and lives in Manhattan.