Thomas Miller

Dr. Thomas J. Miller is a professor of fisheries science and former director of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s founding campus, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, Maryland.

He has been a leader in the development of approaches to manage several Chesapeake Bay species, including blue crab and menhaden, combining laboratory, field and modeling approaches to address questions of interest to society. Most recently, his research has focused on the effects of climate change on oyster and blue crab, recruitment issues in menhaden and striped bass and stakeholder involvement in recreational fisheries.  He has published more than 100 scientific paper, book chapters and books.

Dr. Miller serves on the Scientific and Statistical Committee for the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. Miller also serves as scientific advisor to the Potomac River Fisheries Commission. He served on the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Ocean Studies Board, and on the US National Committee for the UN Decade for Ocean Science for Sustainable Development.

In 2026 Miller was elected a Fellow of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.  Previously, Miller was made an Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay by Maryland Governor Wes Moore, the first time this award was by public nomination. He has been the recipient of the President’s Award for the Application of Science at UMCES and received the USM Regents’ Faculty Award for Public Service, the highest honor that the Board bestows to recognize exemplary faculty achievement.

Dr. Miller is the only two-time recipient of the Graduate Education Award for excellence in teaching from the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences program at the University of Maryland. He has graduated 24 PhD and MS students over his career.

Dr. Miller joined the faculty at the UMCES Chesapeake Biological Laboratory as Assistant Professor in 1994. He has been Professor since 2006, and was Director of the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory from 2011 – 2023. He was a visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth (UK) in 2026

Miller holds a B.Sc. degree from the University of York in England, and completed his Master’s in ecology and Ph.D. in zoology at North Carolina State University. He was a post-doctoral fellow at McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.