Jeff received his PhD from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 2000 working under Dr. Ken Smith on the feeding ecology of bathyal and abyssal fishes. After graduation he backpacked around the world with his wife for a year hitting all the continents including Antarctica.  Afterwards, he took a postdoctoral position at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute under Drs. Jim Barry and Bruce Robison working on a diversity of projects most involving the use or remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).  Jeff joined the Oceanography faculty at University of Hawaii, Manoa in 2004 where he continues to pursue many aspects of deep-sea fish ecology.