Harbor Laboratories on San Juan Island, and that Phycological Trailblazer was pivotal in orien ng his future plans toward No. 36 phycology. For his doctoral research, he studied at the University of California, Berkeley, under Richard Norris the supervision of Prof. G. F. Papenfuss (Norris 1983b). He undertook a study of the (Originally printed in the Phycological Newsle er. Kallymeniaceae, a family of red algae with 2012. Vol. 48 No. 1) extremely complicated pre- and post-fer liza on stages. He spent long hours at the microscope, Richard Earl Norris, who was born in and with his camera lucida he unraveled the very Sea le, Washington, on April 13, 1926, had a complicated pre- and post-fer liza on stages to very early introduc on to the algae. This early grasp what was going on. In his 1957 thesis interest sparked a life-long dedica on to the publica on he explained these stages and also algae, both micro- and macro-, of freshwater, that there was a transi on from the marine and brackish habitats, of polycarpogonial condi on to the inter dal and sub dal habitats monocarpogonial system in the or out on the high seas, and of genus Callophyllis. He also all groups. I think that a concluded that procarps hallmark of his illustrious seemed to have had an career is that he has had such independent origin in the an all-encompassing family Kallymeniaceae, and he fascina on with the algae. Few established that the procarpial contemporary phycologists condi on is polyphyle c in the have maintained such a broad red algae. outlook in their research on A er comple ng his PhD, the algae. Over his long career he stayed in Berkeley, and he he published essen ally on all and his wife Louisa were categories: red algae (including employed by the Radia on the corallines), green algae Laboratory of UC. They (including prasinophytes), maintained large, bacteria-free brown algae, Chrysophyceae, cultures of algae of numerous diatoms, prymnesiophytes phyla (Norris, L., et al. 1955), (including the coccolithoph- and some of these strains were orids), choanoflagellates, used by Melvin Calvin in his euglenoids, and dinoflagellates. experiments on photosynthesis. With David Hibberd, he was Calvin, who would be awarded the first to recognize and the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in establish the new division 1961, elucidated the molecular Chlorarachniophyta. His papers Richard Norris in Hawaii. (Photo by Terilee Wingate) steps in carbon fixa on (the cover the “water-front”: light-independent “Calvin Cycle”). systema cs, morphology, Two of the three Norris children, ecology, ultrastructure, and culturing and life- Richard, Jr., and Jack, were born in Berkeley history studies. In the current age of [Their third child, Laura, would be born in specializa on, it is rare that a researcher carries Minneapolis]. In 1955 Norris joined the Botany on such a broad perspec ve on the algae, and Department of the University of Minnesota, Rich Norris is such a rare individual. where he stayed un l 1962. During that period in As an undergraduate at the University of the Twin Ci es, he supervised Richard Meyer in Washington, Norris took a summer course on his doctoral research and Rita Horner and Robert algae taught by Prof. H. Weston Blaser at Friday 1 Fig. 1. Thamnophyllis pocockiae R.E. Norris. Paratype (in MICH) from Strandfontein, South Africa. Scale bar: 4 cm.
Rasmussen for their Masters degrees. He also ventured to New Zealand on a Fulbright Fellowship in 1958 and again in late 1962-early 1963, when he made collec ons of marine algae at Ringaringa and at Halfmoon Bay. He later collaborated with Nancy Adams, Elsie Conway, and Mrs. E. Willa in compiling a list of the algae Fig 2. (a). Coccosphere (collapsed) of of Stewart Island (Adams et al., 1974). He has Gliscolithus amitakarenae R.E. Norris and (b) a also published on his studies of the single coccolith, termed a gliscolith. (Images phytoplankton observed in Wellington Harbour courtesy of Dr. Claudia Sprengel and Dr. Jeremy (Norris, 1964a). He later resumed his earlier Young). Scale bar: 1 µm. interest on the Kallymeniaceae and published on that family in South Africa (1964b), describing managed to capture photomicrographs of the the new genus Thamnophyllis based on T. phytoplankton, depic ng living unarmored pocockiae (Fig. 1). With Bryan Womersley, he dinoflagellates (Norris, 1966). Ceratolithus had studied and published on the members of this been known only from the fossil state. He was family from southern Australia (Womersley & the first to observe living cells of this genus and Norris, 1971). erected the new family Ceratolithaceae (Norris, In 1961 Norris became a staff member of 1965a). In another publica on Norris (1967a) the U. S. Na onal Museum (Smithsonian described “algal consor sms” observed in the Ins tu on). At this me there was the ambi ous plankton. He captured images of living Interna onal Indian Ocean Expedi on. With dinoflagellates, silicoflagellates, and diatoms support from the U.S Na onal Science with symbio c cyanobacteria as well as Founda on and as part of the U.S. Program in radiolarians and ciliates harboring zooxanthellae Biology, he joined two cruises of the R/V Anton and green algae. He took numerous plankton Bruun in the Indian Ocean, the first cruise within tows for later examina on back in the lab, which the Bay of Bengal and the second cruise resulted in several publica ons. He was following the 70°E longitude from Bombay to par cularly drawn to algal groups that were 37°S la tude and returning northward to Sri notoriously difficult to preserve. By examining Lanka on the 80°E longitude. Despite the the gut contents of salps, he was able to make hardship of a rocking ship on the high seas, he observa ons on some rare and unusual species