Robert Crawford works for Branch Marine and Coastal Management of South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, which he joined in 1971. He obtained his PhD degree at University of Cape Town in 1979, his thesis titled Implications of Recruitment, Distribution and Availability of Stocks for Management of South Africa's Western Cape Purse-seine Fishery.

Rob's present research interests

• Improvement of the conservation status of South Africa's seabirds, many of which are threatened.
• Use of seabirds as indicators of the status of pelagic fish resources and marine ecosystem health.
• Sustainable use of seabirds in environmental tourism

Rob is involved in monitoring trends in seabird populations and seabird diet at South Africa's coastal islands and also at the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands.

The need to develop models of seabird populations and to establish demographic parameters that could be used in such models led him to develop links with scientists at Avian Demography Unit and also to make use of SAFRING.