Dr. Bowen began a lifelong interest in marine life by spending summers on Cape Cod, at the boundary between the Gulf of Maine and the mid-Atlantic coast. The difference between the two water bodies was dramatic during the summer, with tropical seahorses on one side, and cold water sculpins on the other. There began the first stirring of a lifelong interest in marine biogeography. After an ill-advised attempt at a biomedical career, he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Providence College (1980), then a M.A. at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (1987) under John A. Musick. There he realized that molecular genetic technologies could reveal much about the natural history of aquatic species. Dr. Bowen completed a PhD in genetics (1992) under John C. Avise at University of Georgia, and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher and assistant professor at the University of Florida. In March 2003 he joined the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology at University of Hawai‘i, and was promoted to research professor in 2010. During this interval he has conducted globe-spanning genetic surveys of reef fishes, marine turtles, sharks, bonefishes, anchovies, sardines, shrimp, and sea birds as well as regional surveys of manatees, dolphins, rattlesnakes, lizards, freshwater turtles, limpets, sturgeon, and other fishes, yielding approximately 200 publications. These reports include contributions in the journals Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Molecular Ecology, Journal of Heredity, Journal of Biogeography, and many others. Recent accomplishments include co-authorship of the best selling textbook Diversity of Fishes (2023), a realignment of marine biogeographic provinces with John C. Briggs, a review of marine conservation genetics in Hawai‘i, and a global review of comparative marine phylogeography.