Rate My Professor Daniel Crocker

Daniel E. Crocker is Professor and Chair of Biology at Sonoma State University, where he joined the faculty in 2000. He earned a bachelor’s degree in applied biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology and both a master’s degree in marine sciences and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1995, followed by postdoctoral experience at UC Santa Cruz. His research centers on the physiological and behavioral ecology of pinnipeds, with a focus on integrating physiology and behavior to address ecological questions, particularly in northern elephant seals. This work examines metabolic physiology and biochemistry of extended fasting, oxidative stress mechanisms, endocrine stress responses, diving physiology, foraging behavior, and life history strategies, supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and Office of Naval Research. Crocker has secured nearly $8 million in research funding, published more than 230 peer-reviewed papers with over 11,000 citations, and contributed to a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee report on marine mammal conservation physiology. He has mentored more than 40 graduate students and over 100 undergraduates in research. In recognition of his scholarship, he received the 2024 Wang Family Excellence Award for Outstanding Faculty Scholarship and was named an Academy Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences in 2016. He teaches courses including Marine Mammals, Marine Biology, Behavioral Ecology, and Biometry.

Crocker serves on the Population Consequences of Multiple Stressors working group and has authored or co-authored numerous publications on topics such as developmental conditions in pinnipeds, blood oxygen stores in sea turtles, foraging energetics in albatrosses, and blubber gene expression in marine mammals. His efforts have advanced understanding of how marine vertebrates respond to climate variability and anthropogenic stressors, with implications for conservation and human health issues like metabolic syndrome.