Education

1988 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, B.S.
1993 University of Maryland Baltimore County, M.S.
1998 University of Maryland Baltimore County, Ph.D.
1998-2002 Brandeis University, Postdoctoral Research

Courses Taught

General Biology I
General Biology I Lab
Genetics
Molecular Biology
Senior Seminar
Selected Topics in Biology
Biological Research

Career Specialties

Fasick is a marine sensory biologist and molecular physiologist specializing in visual pigments and adaptations of marine animals. His work integrates field ecology, molecular genetics, and sensory physiology to understand how marine species—particularly whales and sharks—interact with their light environment. His research interests focus on marine mammal sensory systems, vision biology, and the molecular evolution of sensory processes in marine mammals, sharks, and fish.

Professional and Community Activities

Fasick’s pre-academic background as a Marine Mammal Trainer at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and the Chicago Zoological Society provided an applied foundation for his later research in sensory biology. He has been a scientific consultant in collaborations with Kelp Blue (Alaska), the New England Aquarium, International Bioimmune Systems, and Proctor & Gamble. He has secured numerous internal institutional sources, including multiple University of Tampa RISE, OURI, and Travel Awards for projects on fish and whale sensory systems.

Publications:

Peer-Reviewed Articles (Highlights) – Sixteen major papers published from 1998–2023 in leading journals on sensory biology and visual neuroscience.

1. Marine Mammal Sensory Systems: Recent Advances and Emerging Technologies (2023, Biology Open). A co-authored synthesis on cutting-edge research and technology in marine sensory studies.
2. Spectral Tuning and Deactivation Kinetics of Marine Mammal Melanopsins (2021, PLOS ONE). Explores molecular mechanisms of non-visual photoreception in cetaceans.
3. Retinal Pigments of Whale Shark and Their Role in Visual Foraging Ecology (2019, Visual Neuroscience). Defines adaptive pigments underlying deep-water predation.
4. Visual Predation during Springtime Foraging of the North Atlantic Right Whale (2017, Marine Mammal Science). Links visual adaptations to foraging strategy.
5. Coping with Copepods: Do Right Whales Forage Visually in Dark Waters? (2017, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B). Integrates behavior and vision models.
6. Adaptations of Cetacean Retinal Pigments to Aquatic Environments (2016, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution). Key contribution on molecular evolution of marine mammal opsins.
7. Evolutionary Loss of Cone Photoreception in Balaenid Whales (2016, Journal of Comparative Neurology). Demonstrates functional retinal simplification in whales.
8. Earlier work (1998–2012) includes foundational studies on dolphin and human cone pigments, spectral tuning, and rod opsins across species.

Book Chapter – Cloning and expression of dolphin opsin sequences and a mechanism of spectral tuning in Cell and Molecular Biology of Marine Mammals (2002).

Conference Abstracts and Presentations – Numerous presentations (1990–2024) at international marine mammal and sensory biology conferences, including the Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, and North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

Media and Outreach:

Fasick’s research has been profiled in Science, The New York Times, Popular Science, and the CBC documentary The Last of the Right Whales (2020). He frequently gives community lectures such as “The Urban Whale: Science & Conservation of the North Atlantic Right Whale” (2015–2022).

Honors and Awards

2025 Ten Year Service Award. University of Tampa
2022 Sabbatical. University of Tampa
2021 Five Year Service Award. University of Tampa
2021 Tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. University of Tampa
2009 Advisor of the Year.  Kean University.
1997 1^st Place Oral Presentation, Graduate Student Research Symposium, UMBC.
1991 2^nd Place Poster Presentation, International Marine Animals Trainers Association.
1987 Founding President of the Biology Club at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.