Dr. Tissot at PlayBrian N. Tissot, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Environmental Science & Regional Planning


14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue
Vancouver, WA 98686-9600
Office: ELS 230Q, 360-546-9611
Research lab: ELS 208, 360-546-9454
Fax: 360-546-9064
Science Office: 360-546-9630
E-mail: tissot@vancouver.wsu.edu

Research focus: human impact assessment on marine ecosystems; evolutionary ecology of marine invertebrates; fishery biology; statistical design and analysis.

Philosophy of teaching: to challenge students to think creatively and critically about the natural world and their role in it.



Education | Courses | Administration | Research | Awards | Reviews | Talks | Grants | Publications | Web Sites



My education:

Courses I have taught:

Washington State University Vancouver (1998-present):

Clark College (Winter 2000):

University of Hawai'i at Hilo (1992-1998):

Oregon State University (1987-1990):

University of California Irvine (1985):

Administrative experience:

My past and present major research projects:

Awards I have won:

Professional journals, grant agencies and publishers I review for:

Talks I have given at professional meetings:

Talks I have given to the community:

Recent Grants

2001-2002     Impacts of Aquarium Fish Collecting and the Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in Hawai’i. Hawai’i Coral Reef Initiative Research Program (PI: $83,000).

2001-2002    Ocean Exploration off the West Coast of the U.S.: A Voyage of Discovery to Unexplored Marine Habitats in the Northeast Pacific - Completing the Lewis and Clark Legacy. NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration  (Co-PI: $13,956).

2000-2001. Impacts of Aquarium Collectors and the Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in Hawai'i. Hawai'i Coral Reef Initiative Research Program (PI: $90,000).

2000-2001. Planning for Reform in Secondary Science and Math. National Science Foundation. (Co-PI: $52,215)

1999-2001    Combining historical data, high resolution seafloor imagery, and new survey and analysis techniques in fisheries habitat studies off Oregon. National
                   Undersea Research Program (Co-PI: $90,972).

1999-2000. Impacts of Aquarium Collectors and the Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas in Hawai'i. Hawai'i Coral Reef Initiative Research Program (PI: $63,000)

1999-2000. Hawai'i Coral Reef Monitoring and Assessment Program. Hawai'i Coral Reef Initiative Research Program (Co-PI: $220,000).

1998-99 Hawai'i Coral Reef Monitoring and Assessment Program (Co-PI: $197,000).

1998-99 Restocking of black abalone on Santa Cruz Island: a model for restoring the abalone fishery in California. Pacific Gas & Electric Company ($10,000).

1997-98 Monitoring reef fish collecting impacts in Kona, Hawai’i. Department of Aquatic Resources, State of Hawai’i ($8643).

1997-98 Establishing the Hawai’i Coral Reef Network on the Internet: providing a forum for education and research. National Coral Reef Initiative, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation ($6000).

1996-98 Coral reef monitoring of Hawai’i and Maui. Department of Aquatic Resources, State of Hawai’i ($3600).

1995-97 Assessment of change in the marine biota and habitat of Pelekane Bay Hawai’i, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ($3994).

Publications (reprints available upon request):

Tissot, B. N. and J. R. Steinbeck. 1983. Microgeographic variation in Collisella digitalis: the use of shell morphometrics as a possible indicator of thermal impact. Chapter 9 In: Environmental Investigations at Diablo Canyon, 1982. D. W. Behrens, ed. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Department of Engineering Research, San Ramon, CA.

Tissot, B. N. 1984. Multivariate analysis of geographic variation in Cypraea caputserpentis (Gastropoda: Cypraeidae). Veliger 27(2): 106-119.

Tissot, B. N. 1988. Geographic variation and heterochrony in two species of cowries (genus Cypraea). Evolution 42(1): 103-117.

Tissot, B. N. 1988. Morphological variation along intertidal gradients in a population of black abalone Haliotis cracherodii Leach 1814. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 117: 71-90.

Tissot, B. N. 1988. Multivariate Analysis. Chapter 3 In: M. McKinney, ed. Heterochrony In Evolution: A Multi-disciplinary Approach. Plenum Press, New York.

Tissot, B. N. 1990. El Niņo responsible for decline of black abalone off southern California. Hawaiian Shell News 38(6): 3-4.

Hixon, M. A., B. N. Tissot, W. G. Percy. 1991. Fish Assemblages of Rocky Banks of the Pacific Northwest. Final Report, OCS Study 91-0052, U.S. Minerals Management Service, Camarillo, CA. 410 pp.

Hixon, M. A. and B. N. Tissot 1992. Fish Assemblages of Rocky Banks of the Pacific Northwest. Final Report Supplement, OCS Study 91-0025, U.S. Minerals Management Service, Camarillo, CA. 128 pp.

Tissot, B. N. 1992. The effects of water movement on the ecology and evolution of the Haliotidae. Chapter 4 In: S. Shepherd and M. Tegner, eds. Proceedings of the First International Abalone Symposium: Biology, Fisheries, and Culture. La Paz, Mexico. Blackwells Sci. Publ. Ltd., Sydney.

Stein, D. L., B. N. Tissot, M. A. Hixon and W. A. Barss. 1992. Fish-habitat associations on a deep reef at the edge of the Oregon continental shelf. Fisheries Bulletin 90: 540-551.

Arnold, J. E. and B. N. Tissot. 1993. Measurement of significant marine paleotemperature variation using black abalone shells from prehistoric middens. Quaternary Research 39: 390-394.

Lubchenco, J. L., S. A. Navarette, B. N. Tissot, and J. C. Castilla. 1993. Possible ecological responses to global climate change: nearshore benthic biota of northeastern Pacific coastal ecosystems. Chapter 12 In: H. A. Mooney, E. R. Fuentes, and B. I. Kronberg. eds. Earth System Responses to Global Change: Contrasts between North and South America. Academic Press, San Diego.

Walls, S. C., J. J. Beatty, B. N. Tissot, D. G. Hokit and A. R. Blaustein. 1993. Morphological variation and cannibalism in a larval salamander. Can. J. Zool. 17: 1543-1551.

McDermid, K., Tissot, B. N., L. Hallacher, W. Dudley, M. Childers and J. Coney. 1995. Marine flora and fauna assessment for the Hawai’i undersea geo-observatory project at Honu’apo, Hawai’i County. State of Hawaii Environmental Assessment

Tissot, B. N. 1995. Recruitment, growth, and survivorship of black abalone on Santa Cruz Island following mass mortality. Southern California Academy of Sciences 94(3): 32-47.

Starr, R. M., D. S. Fox, M. A. Hixon, B. N. Tissot, G. Johnson and W. H. Barss. 1996 Comparison of submersible-survey and hydroacoustic-survey estimates of fish density on a rocky bank. Fishery Bulletin 94: 113-123.

Tissot, B. N. 1996. Volcanoes in the sea: the birth of islands and reefs in Hawai'i. Hawai'i State Teachers Association Newsletter. Copy posted on the Big Island Coral Reef Conservation Group.

Tissot, B. N. 1997. Community-based management of coral reefs in Hawai'i. Reefnet Issue 4.

Tissot, B. N., K. McDermid, Mike Gawel and A. Edward. 1998. Impacts of nearshore dredging activities on marine biological communities on Pohnpei, Micronesia. Sea Grant Technical Report.

Tissot, Brian N. 1998. Changes in the marine habitat and biota of Pelekane Bay, Hawai'i, over a 20-year period. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands Office, Honolulu, HI.  Technical Report. [html] [PDF]

Hallacher, L. E. and Tissot, B. N. 1999. QUEST: Quantitative Underwater Ecological Survey techniques, a coral reef monitoring workshop. Proceedings of the Hawai'i Coral Reef Monitoring Workshop, Honolulu, HI.[PDF]

Tissot, Brian N. and L. E. Hallacher. 1999. Impacts of aquarium collectors on reef fishes in Kona, Hawai'i. Division of Aquatic Resources, Honolulu, HI. Technical Report. [html] [PDF]

Tissot, B. N. 1999. Adaptive Management of Aquarium Fish Collecting in Hawaii. Live Reef Fish Information Bulletin 6: 16-19.  [html] [PDF]

Tissot, B. N. In Press. Hawaiian Reef Ecosystems. Chapter 7 in: Feick, Charles (Ed). Fisherman’s Guide to the Hawaiian Islands. Mutual Publishing Co., Honolulu, HI.

Tissot, B. N. In Press. Statistical Analysis. Appendix B in: Gulko, David (Ed), Coral Reef Monitoring Manual for Hawai’i. Dept. of Land and Natural Resources, Honolulu, HI.

Tissot, B. N. and L. E. Hallacher. in revision .The impacts of aquarium collectors on coral reef fishes in Hawaii. Conservation Biology.

Tissot, B. N., M. A. Hixon and D. L. Stein, D. L.  in revision .Before the fall: habitat-based submersible assessment of groundfish assemblages at Hecta Bank, Oregon from 1988 to 1990. Fisheries Bulletin

Nasby, N. Embley, R., Tissot, B., Hixon. M., Wright, Wright, Merle, S. and W. Wakefield. Submitted.  Integration of Historical Groundfish Habitat Data with New High Resolution Remotely Sensed Data on Heceta Bank, Oregon. Fisheries Bulletin

Web Sites


Last update: December 29, 2000