He has conducted research on fishes in the Channel Islands (Santa Catalina) since 1988. He has also worked on reef fishes in the Bahamas, French Polynesia, and Mexico.Dr. Steele has done nearly 3000 scuba dives, mostly for research, but he also enjoys freediving and spearfishing around the Channel Islands in his spare time.Dr. Steele earned his PhD at UC Santa Barbara and his BA from UC San Diego.He worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at UCLA, a Research Assistant Professor at University of Rhode Island, and a Research Biologist at UC Santa Barbara before joining the faculty at California State University Northridge.