Dr. Kirk Hahn has been working in the aquaculture field for over 30 years, and is one of the leading authorities in abalone aquaculture.  He has lived and worked in countries throughout the Pacific Rim.  He is the author of two reference books on abalone aquaculture.  His first book, "Handbook of the Culture of Abalone and other Marine Gastropods", was published by CRC Press in 1989.  The book represented a breakthrough in the culture of abalone with detailed descriptions of the techniques used in Japan.  Dr. Hahn's second book, "Abalone Reference Guide" [CDROM format], compiled information from 1990 to 2002 on all aspects of abalone biology.

Dr. Hahn's doctoral research was conducted at the Bodega Marine Laboratory (U.C. Davis), and in Japan and French Polynesia.  His research compared the endocrine regulation of reproduction and synchronization of the reproductive cycle by exogenous factors in the Japanese abalone (Haliotis discus hannai) and the tropical top shell (Trochus niloticus).  The study was able to correlate changes in the environment (e.g., water temperature and lunar period) with the hormonal regulation of vitellogenesis, oocyte development and spawning.

Besides Dr. Hahn's work at the University of California, he was awarded a Monbusho scholarship by the government of Japan to study the reproduction of several economically important cultured animals and learn the Japanese aquaculture techniques.  He obtained hands-on experience working in all phases (conditioning, spawning, larval biology, etc.) of the aquaculture of finfish, molluscs, and crustaceans for use in fishery enhancement and reseeding.

Dr. Hahn conducted his field research on the reproduction of the tropical top shell in Moorea, French Polynesia and Aitutaki, Cook Islands.  He was able to show the role of the lunar cycle in coordinating the initiation of spawning and development of gametes.

Dr. Hahn was a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa.  He investigated the nutrition and diseases of the marine shrimp, Penaeus vannamei.

After finishing his academic studies, Dr. Hahn started a consulting firm to conduct aquaculture and fishery enhancement projects in California, Mexico, Canada, and the tropical Pacific.  Additionally, he was the Manager of the National Aquaculture Center in the Federated States of Micronesia.  Most recently, Dr. Hahn was a Senior Research Scientist at Fisheries Western Australia as the state's expert in abalone aquaculture.

Dr. Hahn is now working as a Registered U.S. Patent Agent.  He is assisting inventors, culturists and scientists in protecting their Intellectual Property, and obtaining royalties from licensing their patents.