OLEMAN C. C ELICIA F AND , ERRNKIND F. H ILLIAM ,W

REENBERG J. G ICHAEL M Evolution of the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory An International Journal Published by the Marine Environmental Alabama Sciences Consortium of

Gulf of Mexico Science, 2010(1–2), pp. 149–163

Evolution of the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory

MICHAEL J. GREENBERG,WILLIAM F. HERRNKIND, AND FELICIA C. COLEMAN

SIXTY YEARS OF HISTORY and the toponym Turkey Point Laboratory or, more often, the FSU Marine Laboratory n 1949, just 2 yr after the Florida State College (FSUML) stuck for more than 4 decades. I for Women was transformed into a coeduca- In 2006, Felicia Coleman became the 13th tional institution—The Florida State University director of the Laboratory. She is the first (FSU)—marine science gained a permanent director whose primary workplace is at the foothold on the Tallahassee campus with the laboratory, and the first with an on-site faculty formation of The Oceanographic Institute (OI). to manage. And the laboratory became the FSU This institute—within the College of Arts and Coastal and Marine Laboratory (FSUCML). Sciences—was meant to train graduate students The history of these two laboratories, which in marine science, to provide marine research follows, is narrated primarily by three of the 13 facilities for faculty and students and visiting directors. We have divided the narrative into four investigators, to conduct interdisciplinary basic distinct periods: The Genesis, 15 yr at Alligator research in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, and Harbor; The Great Move from Alligator Harbor also to conduct applied research directed toward to Turkey Point, 7 yr of change; The Long improving Florida’s fishing industry and devel- Struggle at Turkey Point, 34 yr of intermittent, oping other marine resources. slow increases in activity; and finally, The At first, the OI had three remote marine Awakening, 4 yr of exploding activity. We facilities, but two of them—a station at Mayport describe these periods, revealing how this long on the St. Johns River and another on Mullet Key experiment finally succeeds. at the mouth of Tampa Bay—were closed The backbone of our narrative is a series of sometime after 1955. The remaining facility, vignettes describing the backgrounds and activ- sited on 25 acres of the peninsula that constitutes ities of each of the 13 directors. References to the southern shore of Alligator Harbor, about earlier and later vignettes provides cohesion and 45 miles south of Tallahassee, became FSU’s continuity. But we have also interspersed, within operative marine laboratory (Fig. 1). The struc- the backbone, sketches about the activities of tures constituting this Alligator Harbor Labora- students, faculty, and visiting investigators, and tory were built to accommodate Harold Humm, about educational and outreach programs. In a the first director of the OI. The main laboratory way, then, this narrative is a mosaic. The sketches building consisted of a room provided with are in the first person, except when an individual seawater for research and classes, and a room is deceased, aged, distant, or prefers the third of research cubicles. Other structures included a person omniscient narrator. residence for faculty and visitors, a boathouse– shop, large concrete seawater tanks for keeping THE GENESIS (1949–1964) marine animals, a large pool (21.3 3 15.2 m, 2.1- m deep) constructed in 1954 to keep porpoises The natural surroundings at Alligator Harbor.— for W. N. Kellogg, and a 100-m concrete pier for Alligator Harbor proved an enormously produc- docking small boats. The laboratory’s fleet tive backyard for researchers. It was then and included five power boats (6.7 to 11.6 m) and remains today a narrow, shallow bay (roughly 6.4 several skiffs. 3 1.6 km; depth 1.8 m, except for a central Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, research at basin); the southern flank of the harbor is a thin the Alligator Harbor Laboratory was substantial. peninsula (Alligator Point). No freshwater But in 1966, under the direction of Carl streams flow into the harbor, and rainfall does Oppenheimer, FSU replaced the OI with a not exceed evaporation, so the salinity is the Department of Oceanography; the Alligator same as that in the gulf. A great attraction of the Point Laboratory was closed, and a new facility laboratory at this site was its access by skiff to was built across the harbor, just west of St. Teresa Baymouth Bar (Fig. 1), a sandbar that almost near Turkey Point (Fig. 1). Because Ed Ball, completely closes the mouth of the harbor. At President of the St. Joe Paper Company, donated low tides, Baymouth Bar is exposed—revealing some of the land to FSU, the new facility was an expanse of sand, with seagrass around its edge officially designated as the Edward Ball Marine and on its flanks. It is home to an extraordinarily Laboratory. This name, however, was rarely used, wide diversity of marine invertebrates that were

E 2010 by the Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium of Alabama 150 UFO EIOSINE 00 O.28(1–2) VOL. 2010, SCIENCE, MEXICO OF GULF

Fig. 1. FSU’s successive Marine Labs: locations and offshore worksites: (A) Alligator Harbor Lab (1949–66) viewed southward from the harbor (a). (B) Turkey Point Lab (1966–present), built just west of the Point (b) in greater St. Teresa, is now called FSU Coastal & Marine Lab. Local worksites: (1) Baymouth Bar; (2) Turkey Point Shoal; (3) Lanark Reef; (4) Dog Island; (5) Dog Island Reef; (6) Ochlockonee Bay. Dotted boundary: Alligator Harbor Aquatic Preserve. Distant worksites (lower insert): (7) Apalachicola Bay; (8) Apalachee Bay. GREENBERG ET AL.— EVOLUTION OF THE FSUCML 151 objects of research and teaching at the FSUML naturalists’’; indeed, at least 11 species of marine or on the campus in Tallahassee. Well into the algae, diatoms, and invertebrates were named 1960s, the Point and the Bar were separated by a after him. deep channel, which closed sometime in the 1970s. And at about the same time, the property Samuel L. Meyer.—(Director 1954–1955), Ph.D., at the tip of Alligator Point was donated to the University of Virginia, Charlottesville (1940): Nature Conservancy, which closed it to vehicular Areas of expertise: bryology, academic adminis- and pedestrian traffic. Further below, we will tration. describe some of the more important research Samuel Meyer began to study the physiology of initiatives undertaken in this remarkable loca- mosses while he was a graduate student at the tion. University of Virginia, and continued this line of research for 8 yr at the University of Tennessee, THE DIRECTORS:HUMM,MEYER,FOX,METZ, publishing some 10 papers on the subject. His AND COLLIER work at Tennessee was interrupted by stints in the U.S. Army and at Emory University, and Harold Judson Humm.—(Director 1949–1954), when he returned to Nashville, it was as Professor Ph.D., Duke University (1942): Areas of exper- and Chairman of the Department of Botany— tise: general natural history, algae, marine the same rank and position that he was to hold at microbiology (bacteria and archaea), develop- FSU when he moved there in 1951. ment of marketable products from marine algae. In 1954, when Humm resigned, Meyer became In the course of his career, Harold Judson director of the OI, while the search for a new Humm became—three times, and for three director went forward. He took seriously the different institutions—the first director of a responsibility to ‘‘include all relevant disciplines’’ marine laboratory. The first instance was at in his administration; his staff of 19 faculty Duke, where, after receiving his doctorate in represented 11 departments, seven of them botany, he was appointed Resident Investigator distinctly nonbiological. During his year of service, at the marine laboratory in Beaufort, NC. In Meyer completed the construction of the porpoise 1948, he was appointed the first Resident pools at the Alligator Harbor Laboratory, and he Director of the Duke Marine Laboratory, and a and Robert H. Williams, a Professor of Marine year thereafter (1949) he came to FSU to be the Science, wrote and published a detailed, illustrat- founding director of the newly established OI ed, and historically useful description of the and its Alligator Harbor Laboratory, which was Alligator Harbor Laboratory’s earliest years. soon under construction. Meyer left FSU in 1955 to become Dean at In 1950, Humm reported to a National Central Methodist College (now Central Meth- Research Council committee on work conducted odist University) in Fayette, MO, where he had at the Alligator Harbor Lab: composition of a received his A.B. degree. In 1965, he became checklist of the common species of animals in president of Ohio Northern University, in Ada, 1 Apalachee Bay (Fig. 1), and the distribution of where he oversaw a 12-yr period of striking marine algae in the region; the ecology of academic and physical growth. Widely honored, intertidal annelids on several types of beaches; he became President emeritus in 1977, retired to and a study of the physical properties of the agar Lexington, KY, and died there in 2000. Faculty or agaroids available from several species of and students from Ohio Northern University seaweed that were abundant in the region. These continue to visit the FSUCML today. glutagenous substances are used globally as culture media in medicine and microbiology, Sydney W. Fox—(Director 1955–1961), Ph.D., Cal- and Humm already had a patent on a method ifornia Institute of Technology (1940): Areas of for extracting the gels. By the early 1960s, much expertise: protein chemistry, spontaneous forma- of this work was completed and published. In tion of protein microstructures, origin of life. 1954, Humm left FSU precipitously, and re- Fox studied chemistry at the University of turned to Duke. California at Los Angeles, and was guided to Years later, in 1967, Humm became the doctoral study at the California Institute of founding director of the Institute of Marine Technology (Cal Tech) by Linus Pauling, with Science at the University of South Florida (USF), whom he worked as a postdoctoral associate. In St. Petersburg, where he died in 2001. Humm 1955, after various commercial positions and a was known to his students at USF as an period of fundamental research on protein exemplary teacher and as ‘‘the last of the great chemistry at Iowa State College (Ames), Fox came to FSU to direct the OI. He remained at 1 Updated in 1956 by R. Winston Menzel. the OI until 1961, when, encouraged by the 152 GULF OF MEXICO SCIENCE, 2010, VOL. 28(1–2)

National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration Then, in 1964, Metz and Fox both moved to (NASA), he became Director of the Institute of the University of Miami to found an Institute of Space Bioscience at FSU. Molecular and Cellular Evolution. Metz stayed It was while he directed the OI, however, that on in Miami as a Professor of Zoology until he Fox started his groundbreaking work on the retired. But Fox, in 1989, moved as a Distin- origin of life. In seminal experiments, he ther- guished Professor, first to Southern Illinois mally activated amino acids to produce protein- University, and then to the University of South- oids (thermal proteins). He then showed that, ern Alabama, where he retired. when these proteins were mixed in water, they spontaneously self-organized into microspheres. Albert Collier.—(Director 1962–1964), M.S., Rice The formation of these structures and their University (1933): Areas of expertise: chemical resemblance to primitive cells suggested a process oceanography, diatom and dinoflagellate nutri- by which life might have originated. This exciting tion, oyster feeding. work redounded to the reputations of the OI and Collier’s scientific and administrative abilities FSU, but Fox’s concerns could not have stretched were already firmly established when he came to to include the Alligator Harbor Marine Laborato- Florida from Texas. After finishing his educa- ry. Fortunately, however, there was Charles Metz. tion, he had worked for various agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service Charles B. Metz.—(Associate Director 1955–1961), and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. His Ph.D., California Institute of Technology (1942): thorough study of dissolved carbohydrates in Areas of expertise: fertilization, gamete physiol- seawater and their effects on oyster feeding, ogy, biochemical interactions of eggs and sperm, published in 1950, is still cited. cell–cell recognition. In 1946, several oil companies were sued by Metz’s doctoral research at Cal Tech was on the Louisiana oystermen, who complained that biochemical interactions of eggs and sperm polluted water released during the production during fertilization. And it was fertilization—as of petroleum had caused unusually large losses well as the underlying general mechanism of cell– of market-sized oysters. Collier was one of the key cell recognition—that remained the focus of his researchers who concluded, eventually, that high research throughout his career. In 1953, after temperatures and high salinity, caused by completing his education and four brief faculty drought, had made the oysters vulnerable to a positions, Metz came to the Department of parasitic protozoan that they called Dermocysti- Zoology2 at FSU and set up his laboratory in an dium marinum, but which is now known as old barracks about 3 miles from campus. Within a Perkinsus marinus, named after F. O. Perkins year or two, he had attracted a few graduate (incidentally, a graduate student of Winston students, one of whom was Mike Greenberg (your Menzel, the seventh Director.) narrator). Consistently, at low tides, Metz and his From 1957 to 1962, Collier helped build the students would drive down to the Alligator Harbor Texas A&M University Marine Laboratory at Fort Laboratory, get into Metz’s boat, and run to Crocket, an old barracks in Galveston. He then Baymouth Bar to collect sea urchins—the source helped the university to locate the Texas State of gametes, which were the basis of their research. Maritime Academy in that same building. In 1962, When Fox arrived in 1955 to direct the OI, just as the academy opened, Collier moved to FSU Metz became Associate Director in charge of the to become director of the OI, and in 1963, he Alligator Harbor Laboratory. It was a good initiated a doctoral degree program in theinstitute. choice: Metz was the most consistent user of Collier, in a 1963 assessment of the Alligator the facility. Moreover, he was familiar with Harbor Laboratory, notes that research was marine labs in general, having spent summers, ongoing in neurophysiology (Dexter M. Easton), since childhood, at the Marine Biological Labo- mariculture (R. Winston Menzel), diatom and ratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, where he became a dinoflagellate nutrition (Albert Collier, himself), member of the MBL corporation, and an MBL embryology (Charles Metz), and taxonomy Trustee. He was also enthusiastic about natural (Henry Kritzler).3 He also mentioned that history, fishing, and boating. ‘‘…the Laboratory has served principally as a In 1961, when Fox started the new Space summer teaching installation,’’ and although we Institute, Metz joined him, leaving the OI and cannot be sure who taught those courses, we the Alligator Harbor Lab without direction. assume that Collier might well have participated, on the basis of his interest in education. 2 In 1956, the Departments of Bacteriology, Botany, Physiology, and Zoology were integrated into a single Department of 3 The names in parentheses were added by the authors; but only Biological Science. Kritzler is in doubt. GREENBERG ET AL.— EVOLUTION OF THE FSUCML 153

In the 1970s, at the Turkey Point Laboratory, in turbid water, and at 12–15 miles per hour. He Collier offered the first residence course ever contacted the Alligator Harbor Lab—then being taught at the coast. The students stayed in the developed—about facilities for his project. Both dorms, and Collier rented a house in St. Teresa Humm and Meyer were supportive, and con- Beach because the lab superintendent, Don structed a large holding tank for porpoises on Phillips, was living in the Director’s house. the site. Kellogg also found support with the U.S. Collier taught all of the topics in marine biology, Navy Mine Defense Center in Panama City, but also recruited other faculty to give lectures which lent him specialized equipment for and to come on field trips (including WFH and measuring and analyzing sound. The research, MJG). Toward the end of the 1970s, there was an which began in 1951, resulted in an article in intense but brief flowering of residence educa- Science by 1952 (the first of many), and another tion, which is described later. book, ‘‘Porpoises and Sonar,’’ in 1961. ‘‘Need- In 1964, Collier left the directorship for the less to say,’’ Kellogg recalled, ‘‘it was all a great Department of Biological Science. He served as deal of fun.’’ And he retired shortly thereafter. associate chair for undergraduate studies, and on thesis committees of graduate students with Robert B. Short.—(Ph.D., University of Michigan, interests in diatoms, oyster gills, and photosyn- 1950) came directly to FSU from Michigan after thesis. And in about 1970, he wrote the opening completing his doctorate. He accepted a position as overview chapter—Oceans and coastal waters as life- an Assistant Professor of Zoology, stayed for 40 yr, supporting environments—of Otto Kinne’s five- retired in 1990, and passed away in 2007. Short was a volume treatise ‘‘Marine Ecology.’’ distinguished parasitologist with interests in trema- Collier was a renaissance man, often hosting tode systematics, life cycles, and sensory structures; informal eclectic gatherings of artists, scientists, chromosomes and sex determination in blood faculty, and students to discuss scientific and flukes; and dicyemid Mesozoa (parasites of inverte- societal issues. Moreover, he was an accom- brates). Although his primary research was carried plished award-winning artist, especially after out on campus, he trained many of his students at retiring to Arizona in the 1980s. He painted in the Alligator Harbor Laboratory. oils, but became an early experimenter in The training procedure, as described by Short, computer art well into his 80s. While a Visiting involved a drive with his students from town to the Scholar at the University of Arizona, he illustrat- coast, during which they collected (as available) ed a field guide to the common tide pool birds, fish, snails, or even fresh road kill in their invertebrates of the northern Gulf of California. quest for parasites. When they had enough material, they would drive it to the marine lab, RESEARCH AT THE ALLIGATOR HARBOR LABORATORY remove any parasites found in the intestines, heart, and other organs, and identify and study Winthrop N. Kellogg.—(1949–1961) (Ph.D., Colum- them microscopically. They often found new bia, 1929), an Indiana University psychologist, species that they subsequently described in the although well known for his studies of condition- literature. It is not surprising that when Bob ing in animals, was even better known for rearing Paine—then a graduate student at the University his child with an infant chimpanzee for 9 mo to of Michigan and a visitor at the Marine Lab— determine the relative effects of nurture and found metacercariae infecting the brachiopods genetics on development. The resulting book— that he was studying, they were identified as ‘‘The Ape and the Child’’—by Kellogg and his gymnophalline trematodes by Bob Short. wife, Luella Kellogg, appeared in 1933. In 1950, after 20 yr at Indiana University, Kellogg accepted Dexter M. Easton.—(Ph.D., Harvard University, an offer from FSU to be a Professor of Psychology 1947) was a neurobiologist in the FSU Depart- because, as Howard Baker, an FSU psychologist, ment of Biological Science from 1955 until 2005. reported: ‘‘B. F. Skinner had been made depart- He was interested in teaching and had designed ment head [at Indiana] instead of him…He was equipment that would allow students to make through with research, which he concluded had simple observations of electrical potentials. From got him nowhere, and he was just going to teach at least the late 1950s to mid-1960s, he would and go sailing.’’ take his class to the Alligator Harbor Laboratory Indeed, Kellogg did go sailing in the Gulf of and teach them how to record from excitable Mexico, but there he became fascinated with tissue. Easton also carried out research on the porpoises and initiated a study of echolocation— morphology and physiology of fish brains at the ‘‘this complex avenue of audioperception’’— Alligator Harbor Laboratory; he had a house on whereby the animals navigate, avoid obstacles, the beach very near the lab, so his family could and find their food in the ocean, even at night or come with him while he worked. In the summer 154 GULF OF MEXICO SCIENCE, 2010, VOL. 28(1–2) of 1961, Jack Rudloe—just out of Leon High ulate (or lingulid) brachiopod—is relatively School—was hired by Easton to collect striped common along the west coast of Florida is burrfish and bat fish. Rudloe grew up to be a probably still not well known. But Bob Paine marine biologist in Panacea, FL, co-Managing did know, having read the literature of the late Director (with his wife Anne) of the Gulf 19th and early 20th centuries. And why wouldn’t Specimen Marine Laboratory there, and a well- he want to do his doctoral research on the known nature writer. ecology of a species that had remained virtually unchanged since the Ordovician, i.e., for 40–50 The Illinois Excursions (MJG narrates).—Charles million yr? Paine reports: ‘‘So I made exploratory Metz directed my Master’s research on the trips from Ann Arbor (University of Michigan) in chemical and physiological properties of fertili- 1957 and 1958, just to prove to my advisor that zin, a component of the jelly coat on the surface brachiopods could be found.’’ of sea urchin eggs. In 1955, I graduated from In June, 1959, with the proof in, Paine FSU, and went to Harvard, where my doctoral embarked on what he calls ‘‘my graduate student studies were on the pharmacology of serotonin sabbatical: moving to Florida, [and] living out of on quahog hearts. In the course of this work, I my VW van.’’ It was on this third trip that Paine became interested in how the effects of trans- found the Alligator Harbor Marine Laboratory mitters on bivalve cardiac muscle would vary with and was given permission to reside there for an species, and whether the pattern of variation extended period, in fact, about 11 mo. In that would be predictable. So I began to study those time, and with plenty of travel, he managed to questions in 1958, when I joined the zoology determine the range and habitat of Glottidia and faculty at the University of Illinois. then—focusing on two populations, in Alligator Although Illinois has plenty of freshwater Harbor and Cape Haze—to quantitatively de- clams, they are difficult to identify, and the hearts scribe their life history, particularly reproduction, are difficult to work with. In 1959, therefore, I and the ecology of the planktonic larvae, leading arranged with Metz to visit the Alligator Harbor to the distribution of the adult populations. Lab for a week in mid-April; I aimed, simply, to In the course of investigating Glottidia, Paine determine the diversity of bivalves on Baymouth became fascinated with a complex community Bar and to test the experimental effectiveness of on Baymouth Bar. The food web comprised the hearts. This brief review was encouraging, and eight predatory gastropods and a variety of one of my colleagues—Clyde Manwell, an expert animals (including some of the gastropods) in respiratory pigment function—was excited to learn about the red ‘‘blood’’ in Noetia ponderosa who were their prey. By determining the prey (an ark shell) and Cardita floridana (a small clam). of each gastropod, and identifying the adapta- So the two of us went to Florida for 2 wk, near tions or conditions that allowed others to avoid year’s end; we collected animals, and did exper- predation, it was possible to tease apart a iments at the Alligator Harbor Laboratory—he complex food web into simpler subwebs, which on the distribution and function of hemoglobins could then be studied more effectively. Paine in the two species of bivalves, and I on the effects remarks: ‘‘In many ways, the gastropods were of acetylcholine on the hearts of several bivalve more interesting than the brachiopods, and they species. certainly stimulated my career-long interests in Sometime in 1963–64, while Collier was Direc- predation.’’ Indeed, within 10 yr of leaving tor, Manwell returned to the Marine Lab to study Florida, he clarified, in two landmark papers, the striking differences in the hemoglobins of the role of ‘‘keystone predators’’ in biodiversity. ‘‘stout’’ and ‘‘thin’’ sea cucumbers (Thyonella Paine finished at Michigan in 1961—the gemmata). He published three or four papers on Glottidia story was his dissertation—and went off the basis of his Florida studies, then went to live in to a postdoctoral fellowship at the Scripps Great Britain, and we have never met again. Institute of Oceanography, where he organized My data set from Florida required expansion, his Alligator Harbor data into about six papers. so I went to marine laboratories in other regions He joined the Department of Zoology at the of the country, until I had examined about 50 University of Washington in 1962, where he different species, and the variation in heart became chairman, and where, though retired, he responses was clear and predictable. Then I still works. Paine’s work has had a marked published a couple of papers and continued influence on ecology, converting it into a doing comparative pharmacology until I retired. dynamic experimental science; he has received many honors, and is a member of the National Robert T. Paine and the Great Graduate Student Academy of Sciences. And he will appear again Sabbatical.—That Glottidia pyramidata—an inartic- toward the end of this narrative. GREENBERG ET AL.— EVOLUTION OF THE FSUCML 155

THE GREAT MOVE it would take almost 4 decades to complete—or not. In 1971, Oppenheimer returned to the Carl Oppenheimer.—(Director 1964–1971), Ph.D., University of Texas, where he remained for the University of California, San Diego (Scripps rest of his career. After he left FSU, the Stormy Institution of Oceanography) (1961): Areas of Petrel was towed away. expertise: marine microbial ecology, geomicro- biology, petroleum microbiology and pollution, THE LONG STRUGGLE (1971–2006) coastal zone management, known globally as a founder of bioremediation. Natural surroundings near the FSUML.—The loca- Soon after his doctoral studies, Oppenheimer tion of FSU’s marine laboratory near Turkey joined the faculty of the Institute of Marine Point is unique in a number of respects (Fig. 1). It Science at the University of Miami. From there, resides between two extensive watersheds, those in 1964, he moved to FSU, and during the next of the Ochlocknee River to the east and the 7 yr, fulfilled several goals: he served as the last Apalachicola River to the west, and is nested director of the OI, he oversaw its closing (1964– within a region of extensive conservation lands. It 68), and he replaced the OI with a new lies within the Alligator Harbor Aquatic Preserve Department of Oceanography in the College of (5,814 ha) managed by the Florida Department of Arts and Sciences, where he developed a new Environmental Protection; littoral coastal areas to graduate program and served as the first the east are within the St. Marks National Wildlife chairman (1968–71). Refuge (27,519 ha) and, to the west, within the Oppenheimer also oversaw the funding, de- Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Re- velopment, and design of a new marine labora- serve (99,553 ha). Further, the Apalachicola tory at St. Teresa. In 1964, the State Board of National Forest (228,647 ha) and Tate’s Hell Control had approved FSU’s request for $27,000 State Forest (81,914 ha) stretch to the north and to buy an 80-acre lot that, with Ed Ball’s donated west. These substantial conservation efforts have land, would provide space to build a new resulted in virtually pollution-free nearshore laboratory with enough left over for future waters. Seagrass beds (mainly Thalassia testudi- expansion. The new FSUML was about 8 miles num) provide most of the local subtidal primary west of the previous site on Alligator Harbor, and productivity and habitats for a remarkably diverse 48 miles from campus, about the same distance fauna (including more than 65 marine algal as that from campus to the Alligator Harbor Lab species, 150 molluscan species, 80 annelid species, (Fig. 1). 120 decapod species, and numerous marine The new lab had a larger research building vertebrates and planktonic species), playing with labs and suites with running seawater, a fundamental structural and functional roles in classroom/library, a large maintenance shop, coastal and marine ecosystems. They are also four efficiency apartments, and a four-bedroom vulnerable to exploitation and to disturbance. house for a resident superintendant. A large Indeed, the area within which the lab is embed- basin and a high concrete dock were designed to ded is considered to be among the more serve an oceangoing research vessel. productive and diverse coastal habitats in the In the expectation that the new facility would United States, and a prime candidate for serving develop a major seagoing research initiative, a as the focus of intense research and conservation deep channel was dredged adjacent to the efforts. laboratory, and Oppenheimer obtained the Stormy Petrel, a 125-foot hull, intended as the primary THE DIRECTORS:FROM HARRISS TO IVERSON seagoing research platform. Although the ship had a newly reconditioned winch on it, it lacked Robert Harriss.—(Director 1971–1974), Ph.D., an engine. Moreover, the hoped-for research Rice University (1965): Areas of expertise: initiative failed to develop, and funding for large regional and global environmental change, cities ships was dedicated to the newly formed (in 1967) as complex adaptive systems, integration of Florida Institute of Oceanography, a statewide science with the arts. academic infrastructure support organization. As a young oceanography faculty member, the Oppenheimer’s directorship transformed 1970s were an exciting, productive, and often FSU’s marine laboratory in every conceivable impetuous era in my life and career. In a way: its location, size, structure, services, admin- moment of weakness, I accepted the additional istration, and especially its potential for growth responsibility as Director of the FSUML. Vice and development. But the direction of that President of Research, Robert Johnson, and Carl growth and development was not at all clear. Oppenheimer, my Oceanography Department So although a metamorphosis had surely begun, head, assured me that a reduction of one course 156 GULF OF MEXICO SCIENCE, 2010, VOL. 28(1–2) from my teaching load would provide the time After my departure from FSU in 1978, I held necessary to lead the lab. This was a gross positions at NASA, the University of New underestimate, but I viewed the Marine Lab as Hampshire, Texas A&M, and the National an opportunity to live and work close to the Center for Atmospheric Research. In 2006, I coastal ecosystems that I researched. returned to Houston, birthplace of my profes- During my first week at the lab, I was sional career, to serve as President of the confronted by staff discord. With great anxiety, Houston Advanced Research Center, a nonprofit I called the maintenance and ship staff for a face- institution dedicated to sustainability science. I to-face discussion of the issues. The problematic also hold adjunct faculty positions at Texas A&M- staff member resigned, and I promoted Earnest Galveston and the University of Houston. Gay to the Marine Supervisor position, where he served until the mid-1980s. Earnest saw to the R. Winston Menzel.—(Director 1974–1978), Ph.D., day-to-day operation of the facility and would Texas A&M University (1954): Areas of expertise: become an important mentor during my tenure all aspects of bivalve molluscan biology, especial- as Lab Director. Joe Barber, the Captain of the ly that of oysters and quahogs. R/V Tursiops (a 60-foot steel-hulled T-boat), Menzel came from a family of commercial Bobby Millender, First Mate, and other support fishermen who worked on the Chickahominy staff were a great team. Meanwhile, I lived on River in Virginia. But after his Master’s study of site, in the house on the lab property, during the James River catfish fishery, Menzel’s interests much of my tenure. turned to the reproduction, development, and The 1970s were the best of times for research- growth of oysters. He was working in Louisiana, ers in the environmental sciences. Our R/V and in 1946, was involved—as Collier had been— Tursiops was an ideal platform for research in the legal argument between the Louisiana oystermen and the oil companies. His doctoral programs on the biogeochemistry of rivers, work also involved oysters—a biological compar- estuaries, and coastal waters, from the Florida ison of Crassostrea virginica and Ostrea equestris, Everglades to the Mississippi Delta, and the and when it was complete, in 1954, he joined the National Science Foundation (NSF) provided FSU Department of Marine Science. adequate support for the vessel to be at sea 100– Menzel’s research at FSU, though focused on a 150 d each year. Moreover, the Vice President of few bivalve genera, was quite broad; about half of Research provided a modest increase in the lab it addressed biological questions (ecology, pop- budget to support my efforts to attract more ulation biology, behavior, and parasitology); a scientists and students to the lab, both FSU folk smaller proportion dealt with cellular, genetic, and visitors. Rich Iverson, Jim Jones, Skip and chromosomal questions (including hybrid- Livingston, Bill Herrnkind, and other faculty ization and protozoan diseases); and only a small had very productive projects at the lab. A major fraction of his papers were about cultivation. But South Florida study included a fruitful collabo- such an artificial parsing of his oeuvre is clearly ration with H. T. Odum at the University of off, for cultivation of marine animals underlies Florida: my group learned how to do modeling virtually all of Menzel’s work. He remarked in with an analog computer, and his students were 1961 that open land was disappearing as the introduced to field measurements. Odum’s 1971 population increased, and suggested that shallow book, Environment, Power, and Society, profoundly coastal waters be exploited by scientifically based influenced my thinking and subsequent career ‘‘husbandry of marine forms, or mariculture,’’ interests. At the same time, Skip Livingston and thus both coining the word, and revealing his Walter Glooschenko collaborated with me to perspective. document coastal environmental damage, and to Menzel carried out substantial field and take on paper, pesticide, and other polluting laboratory research both at the Alligator Harbor industries. Laboratory and at the FSUML when it moved to Many of my graduate students subsequently Turkey Point. In 1956, he updated the checklist had distinguished careers in academia and of local animals and plants that Harold Humm government laboratories. Jack Winchester, Chair had prepared in 1953, adding more species and of the Department of Oceanography, provided commentary, and this annotated checklist is now inspiring leadership. I resigned my position at in its third edition (1971). the lab in 1974 to assume a position as a Menzel’s relaxed manner and slow drawl led temporary program manager at the NSF, where people to discount him. But he was close to his I hoped to inspire more awareness of the power many students, who respected his grasp of the of interdisciplinary approaches to the environ- literature and natural history, his intelligence, mental sciences. and wit. Through the four years of his director- GREENBERG ET AL.— EVOLUTION OF THE FSUCML 157 ship, Menzel attended to his research and all of their credits for the quarter (15 hr). They writing, continued to do so after he retired, would not need to commute, but would live in and then until he passed away in 1989. the FSUML dormitories. Many students signed on. Moreover, common course numbering had Michael J. Greenberg.—(Director 1978–1980), just been instituted in the State University Ph.D., Harvard University (1958): Areas of System, so we invited students from other expertise: comparative pharmacology and phys- universities to join in, and a few did. iology of invertebrates. Recruiting faculty proved easy. Since EMB would be team taught, faculty would stay only a Research: In 1965, 10 yr after my Master’s degree week or two at Turkey Point; they would reside in studies with Charles Metz, I returned to FSU’s the lab director’s house, give daily lectures in Department of Biological Science. The astonish- their field of interest, and offer a set of ing biological diversity at Baymouth Bar and laboratory projects in their field, which the along the coast were still compelling, and the students would carry out. Moreover, although diverse interests of the graduate students in my the course had a research assistant, faculty were lab led to a varied research program that invited to bring one of their own graduate included osmotic regulation and echinoderm students along to help out, which they did. The regeneration, as well as the basic theme of instructors were primarily from Biological Sci- bivalve heart pharmacology and physiology. ence: Larry Abele (invertebrate zoology), Bill When it was my turn to be Director of the Herrnkind (marine behavior and ecology), FSUML, my primary aim was to develop an William Marzluff from Chemistry, Gerald Schat- acceptable level of scientific activity at the ten (development), and I (comparative physiol- laboratory—and that was strange, considering ogy). But we also recruited Ranga Rao from the the operation of my own research group. Typical- University of West Florida (endocrinology) and ly, during low tides, we would use the skiffs at the Barry Ache from Florida Atlantic (neurophysiol- Alligator Harbor Lab to go down to Baymouth ogy). Bar, or drive to other sites along the coast. We The faculty did bring such specialized equip- would collect the required animals and then drive ment as was needed for their laboratory exper- them back to campus, where we would maintain iments, and Bob Johnson (Vice-President for them in aerated, artificial seawater in a tempera- Research) funded dissecting microscopes, spec- ture-controlled walk-in cooler, until they were trometers, and recording oxygen meters and used in experiments. Clearly, the Alligator Harbor osmometers. With the problems solved, we tested Lab was serving our research program primarily as EMB in 1975–76, and offered it statewide in a transportation hub, and that relationship did 1977. not change when the new facility at Turkey Point Fitting EMB to the University’s academic opened in the spring of 1970. rhythm, culture, and regulations was always challenging—but interesting. In 1980, for exam- Education: In the 1970s, Bill Herrnkind and I ple, we shifted the weekend to Tuesday and began to participate in the general residential Wednesday, so students could leave to conduct marine biology course that Albert Collier had business on campus or in town. Still, the course developed at the FSUML. But also in the 1970s, I succeeded and improved with each iteration; for was involved in Experimental Invertebrate Zoology,a me, it was the most rewarding undertaking of my residential summer course offered at the MBL directorship. (Woods Hole). Like most MBL courses, it was team-taught, so specialized instruction could be Maintenance: I had no sooner been appointed provided by several expert faculty. This seemed a Director then two problems emerged: First, an good model for a multidisciplinary course in inspection revealed that the reinforcement bars Experimental Marine Biology (EMB) at FSUML. in the floor and in the pillars holding up the There were only three problems: recruiting laboratory building had rusted, then expanded, students and instructors, and obtaining general and finally cracked the concrete around them. measuring and optical equipment for the labs. Moreover, the ventral surface of the building Fortunately, the State universities in Florida extending over the tank area was covered in were on the quarter system during the 1970s. So asbestos, which we were required to remove at we proposed—and could reasonably expect— once. And the seawater system, beset with silt, was that at least some interested students would be in need of attention. The repairs took months. willing to devote 10 wk, 5 d per wk—lecture, lab, The second problem was tied up at the or fieldwork from morning to evening—to this laboratory’s dock: a large scruffy boat that never one course. But in return, students would receive moved—and then disappeared. Thirty-two years 158 GULF OF MEXICO SCIENCE, 2010, VOL. 28(1–2) later, Herrnkind explains: ‘‘In about 1969, Maintenance: For 3 yr after the departure of R/V Professor James ‘‘Jimmy’’ Jones, a geologist, Tursiops, only outboard skiffs and pontoon boats came to FSU, bringing with him R/V Tursiops, were available to FSUML investigators. In 1981, a 60-foot T-boat. Small and slow, but seaworthy, it however, soon after becoming Director, FSU became the laboratory’s oceangoing vessel. I acquired a vessel from U.S. Customs. Renamed took it to Bimini several times (1973–75) where it R/V Callinectes, it was a 46-foot diesel-powered served as a mobile diving platform and thus craft with a semitunneled stern, suitable for use enabled my research on the population biology in both near-offshore and bay waters. I secured of spiny lobsters. I also used it in the Scientific funds to upgrade it and oversaw its renovation Diving course; and others used it as well for into a serviceable research platform. research and teaching. By the late 1970s, Well before the age of desktops and the however, its block funding had ended, and yet Internet, I also acquired a terminal with a it needed major refurbishing. So it sat at the phone-line linkage to the mainframe computer dock, and then (in about 1980) it was relin- on the FSU campus. For the first time, computer quished to the Federal Government, who took it access to the FSUML was available. Moreover, in away to storage in Bay St. Louis.’’ response to an assault threat on a student assistant staying overnight at the coastal facility, William F. Herrnkind.—(Director 1980–1985), I persuaded the administration to provide Ph.D., University of Miami (1968): Areas of enhanced security, including a barrier fence, expertise: behavior and ecology of marine expanded outdoor lighting, and under my crustaceans. successor, after-hours security personnel.

Research: The FSUML opened in late 1967, just Outreach: During my directorship, I initiated a as I joined the Biological Science faculty at FSU, series of outreach programs that continue to this and my graduate students and I have operated day. For example, in 1984, Dr. Patricia Hayward there ever since. Although the primary focus of and I created Saturday-at-the-Sea (SATS), a our research was on the behavior and ecology of hand-on program for middle school students spiny lobsters, and was conducted underwater in that has operated at the lab for 26 yr and served the subtropics, our experimental studies were ,20,000 middle-school students (see Outreach carried out at FSUML. In addition, our lab section below). continuously studied and published on littoral gastropods and crustaceans in the Gulf, and on W. Ross Ellington.—(1985–1989), Ph.D., Univer- their ecological linkages, both direct (predator– sity of Rhode Island (1976): Areas of expertise: prey) and indirect (mollusk shell–web dynam- enzyme structure, function, and evolution. ics). Administration: I have been a faculty member at Diving: Already in the mid-1970s, I began to FSU in the Department of Biological Science instruct my graduate students in scuba diving since 1981. While Marine Lab Director, I estab- safety and the techniques of scientific diving. lished the position of Associate Director (AD) at Then I hired a full-time Diving Officer and FSUML to provide continuous, on-site direction started to promote the development of an for all of the diverse day-to-day operations. Thus, academic diving program (ADP) that would be the AD position anticipated expanded research, offered and overseen by the FSUML. This teaching, and outreach at the coast, and provided campaign was successful, and ADP has provided the Director with time to meet faculty and science-diver training for many graduate stu- administrative commitments on the main cam- dents in marine science and underwater archae- pus, and thereby to pursue long-term support for ology, while also offering advisory and technical the Marine Lab. I also brought the FSUML into support to research, including safety oversight, the National Association of Marine Laboratories. and free use of scuba gear and instrumentation. In my present position as Associate Vice President for Research, I watch over the direction and Education: I continued to coordinate and teach operation of the Marine Laboratory, including in the multidisciplinary residence course: EMB. changes to the facility and personnel. But in 1981, when the quarter system ended, so did the course—overwhelmed by logistical and Maintenance: I obtained night and weekend scheduling problems. Later, however, from 1995 security personnel for the coastal facility and to 2006, I commuted from the main FSU oversaw the repair and improvement of infra- campus, 2 d per wk, to teach Biology of Higher structure following substantial damage by Hurri- Marine Invertebrates. cane Kate. An unusable boat launch ramp was GREENBERG ET AL.— EVOLUTION OF THE FSUCML 159 replaced with a new, larger one suitable to all Research: Among the major projects at the FSUML outboard watercraft up to 28 feet in Marine Lab was my long-term, externally funded length. research on the life cycle needs and cultivation As Director, I obtained NSF funding to build a of marine copepods. As important as the basic recirculating seawater system. This opened the research goals, was the evaluation of cultivated Marine Lab to research on marine species with copepods as a superior food source for rearing narrow salinity and temperature tolerances, and commercially valuable fish species. I also built supported studies that require long-term con- two large and durable greenhouses. trolled conditions. Additionally, I upgraded the By 2001, I had served longer than any Director, open seawater system, providing higher water before or since. After completing my term as quality, greater reliability of supply, and the FSUML director, I went on to become Director of expansion necessitated by the increasing de- the Women in Math, Science, and Engineering mands of research and outreach programs. program (2001–2005), and Chair of the Depart- ment of Oceanography (2003–2005). By August Research: My research program focuses on the 2005, these roles had prepared me to take on a structure, function, and evolution of phosphoryl new challenge: Dean of Graduate Studies. transfer enzymes. This is a highly technical program that must be sited on the main campus. Richard Iverson.—(Director 2001–2005), Ph.D., But most of the model animals and experimental Oregon State University (1972): Areas of exper- materials used in the program are, or are derived tise: physiology and ecology of marine phyto- from, local marine invertebrates, from sponges plankton. to octopi. During his tenure as Director, Iverson refur- bished the R/V Callinectes, replacing the electri- Nancy H. Marcus.—(1989–2001), Ph.D. Yale cal system, installing a new winch, replacing the University (1976): Areas of expertise: ecology radar/sounding system with an advanced unit, and evolutionary biology, centering on dorman- and replacing the life rafts. These improvements cy in the life cycle of marine copepods. assured that the craft would continue to be My career began at the Woods Hole Oceano- effective for both teaching and research cruises. graphic Institution, first as a postdoctoral fellow Iverson also replaced the engines in the heavily and then as member of the scientific staff. I used small-boat fleet that was serving, not only moved to the FSU Department of Oceanography greatly expanded public outreach programs, but in 1987 and assumed the FSUML directorship in also supporting the research and teaching of 1989. FSU and other institutions. Iverson also significantly upgraded the FSUML Maintenance: With two NSF facilities improve- infrastructure. With support from Brooks Keel ment grants, the seawater system was greatly and Kirby Kemper, he replaced the freshwater upgraded and expanded. The raw water intake system and installed a 5,000-square-foot modular was moved farther offshore and deeper, provid- building that had been donated by the Seminole ing a continuous flow, even during storms and Boosters. He also secured and oversaw two major extreme low tides. Because of these improve- installations affecting information transmission: ments, marine organisms could be held for fiber-optic Internet cable was laid throughout longer periods, with less risk of stoppages or FSUML research, education, and maintenance declines in the quality of the seawater supply. buildings, and a server and new personal And therefore, research outcomes for replicated computers for all staff members were provided. and long-term tests and experiments were These improvements permitted direct commu- improved. nication with the main campus via a DSL I also supervised a mammoth dredging oper- Internet connection. He also replaced the ation to clear accumulated sediment and to antiquated telephone system, including com- deepen the Marine Lab channel. As a result, plete rewiring throughout all of the buildings larger vessels, including R/V Callinectes, could on the Marine Lab campus. finally enter and leave the basin without risk of For the first time, the laboratory could provide grounding or propeller damage. I also ensured on-site dedicated offices, meeting space, and that all programs were able to operate through communications for researchers and teachers, the year-long period of dredging, that the both from FSU and elsewhere. These improve- seawater supply was adequate, and that dredged ments would later enhance academic activity at sediment caused no environmental damage or the coast, facilitating an increased appreciation local disturbance of sensitive sea grass and oyster for the pristine habitats and diverse organisms reef habitats. located adjacent to the FSUML. 160 GULF OF MEXICO SCIENCE, 2010, VOL. 28(1–2)

RESEARCH AT THE FSUML: FROM HARRISS TO IVERSON nesting sites for several fish species and dwarf octopuses—an important indirect ecological Robert J. ‘‘Skip’’ Livingston.—(Biological Science): effect. Some shell-using hermit crabs actively From 1970 through the 1990s—and with the seek and acquire, by specialized behavior, intensity for which he is legendary—Skip Living- anemones that sting potential crustacean pred- ston and a large contingent of collaborators and ators. Such insights and many others have students, graduate and undergraduate, re- emerged from a lineage of graduate student searched the ecology of our important panhan- projects that have been directed, since the 1960s, dle estuaries: the Fenholloway, Econfina, Choc- by Herrnkind and other faculty from FSU and tawhatchee, and especially the Apalachicola, elsewhere. Two of the earliest and best-known Florida’s main producer of oysters as well as papers on this topic were by Robert T. Paine, shrimp and blue crabs. Livingston aimed to present Chair of the FSUCML Science Advisory accumulate sufficient long-term physical and Board. biological data so that seasonal, annual, and future trends could be assessed. Of special Christopher C. Koenig and Felicia C. Coleman interest to him was the trophodynamics of each (Biological Science).—Over the past 2 decades, system—the key to the nature of the food chain Koenig and I have elucidated the life history and and to productivity measures. The work of recruitment of a number of species of groupers. Livingston’s group was largely in the field and During the early 1990s, we worked on these sorting room, but they also had a continuous aspects off the FSUML, focusing especially on presence at the FSUML, where they conducted gag and red grouper, two of the most sought- long-term mesocosm experiments. His ability to after and heavily fished species in both the sustain support for such long-term data collec- recreational and commercial fisheries in this part tion and subsequent analysis was remarkable. of the Gulf. In particular, we found that, during Livingston’s projects yielded seminal discover- their juvenile stage, gag use the seagrass beds, ies about the relationship of river flow to the which extend from Apalachee Bay to throughout bay’s ecology, and the contributions of microor- the Big Bend, as critically important nursery ganisms to the productivity of the ecosystem. The grounds. We estimated that the year-class projects spun off numerous Master’s and doc- strength, just in the St. George Sound, was toral studies, and a set of lessons on the nature of nearly 1 million young fish. This signified both the estuary was developed and was taught in the the important function of this region as nursery local public schools in Franklin County. habitat and its incredible importance in supply- ing fishery productivity. The National Marine William ‘‘Bill’’ Herrnkind.—(Biological Science): A Fisheries Service (NMFS) was highly interested marine station located amidst pristine habitats in this work. So more than 15 yr ago, we left the that provides the basic services of small boats and Marine Lab to work with colleagues at NMFS running seawater can generate significant re- labs throughout Florida. This change allowed search by graduate students and faculty even us to expand our work offshore to the edge of when their funding is limited. This possibility has the continental shelf and to the rest of the been revealed by more than 3 decades of state. observing the sophisticated behavior and intri- In the early 2000s, Herrnkind used our data cate linkages among littoral Gulf mollusks and, effectively to forestall plans for a marina to be mainly, crustaceans that constitute what has been built off the FSUML. termed the ‘‘shell web.’’

In an area without nearshore rocks, mollusk OUTREACH AT THE FSUML: FROM HARRISS TO IVERSON shells provide both the limiting hard substrate and shelter. Although bivalves and gastropods In 1984, the Florida Legislature mandated the both produce shells, it is mainly predaceous state universities to offer their facilities and gastropods that make the shells available for services beyond enrolled students, i.e., directly other taxa to exploit, e.g., hermit crabs, sea to state citizens. Bill Herrnkind and Patricia anemones, gobies, blennies, and other benthic Hayward (Biological Science.) designed and fishes. Meanwhile, blue, stone, and box crabs— obtained funding for the SATS program to shell-crushing predators of mollusks—remove encourage interest in nature and science among those shells for their own use. A dynamic middle-school students—an audience that tends interaction between these processes operates in to lose interest in science. The hands-on activities salt marshes and in sea grass meadows. Horse included field trips, wading and seining along the conchs, the top gastropod predator of local shore, and trawling the sea-grass meadows just waters, devours pen shell flesh, thus providing offshore, as well as a brief wet lab session using GREENBERG ET AL.— EVOLUTION OF THE FSUCML 161 dissecting microscopes and touch tanks. In 1996, Before describing the transformation of the the program won the Governor’s Environmental FSUCML, I want to acknowledge the giants I’ve Educational Excellence Award. Now SATS and had for mentors. In particular, Greenberg, spin-off programs operate several days weekly in Herrnkind, and Bob Paine have been walking spring through fall. In 1994, Herrnkind initiated a with me from the start—and Joe Travis, Dean of NSF–Science Education program for middle- Arts and Sciences, even before that. Greenberg school science teachers, Marine Ecology for pointed me toward developing a Board of Teachers: A Model for Inquiry-Based Teaching. Trustees—on which both he and Herrnkind The success of this experience for the participants serve, and through which Travis is involved— formed the basis of two subsequent long-term and a Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by Bob NSF grants (2000–2012). Paine. They are as engaged and energetic a Among the legacies of Nancy Marcus’s tenure bunch as I’ve ever seen. I also acknowledge the is the very successful, ongoing, Open House Day. incredible staff at the laboratory, from long- This biannual springtime event draws hundreds timers who shared the institutional history to the of coastal citizens to the FSUML to experience new staff now on board. They get it. All of these research exhibits, lectures on a wide array of people are dedicated to the laboratory and all timely marine topics, and close-up, hands-on that it can become, and perhaps more particu- contact with live, local marine invertebrates and larly, they love this part of the world—now in fishes. immediate jeopardy because of the Deepwater These collective outreach efforts have en- Horizon oil spill of April 2010. hanced the perception of the marine lab and its regional role. Maintenance: Marine labs are hungry beasts. During my first 2 yr as director, the 1960s-era THE AWAKENING (2006–) electrical and fueling systems were replaced, and the internet connectivity of the lab was brought In 2004, Kirby Kemper, Vice President for into the 21st century by upgrading the single Research, appointed a select committee of FSU DSL phone line to a T-3 line, thus unifying Marine Science faculty (including Herrnkind FSUCML electronically with campus. We then and Coleman) to evaluate and recommend the went wireless. The building that was moved on direction of future development at the FSUML. site during Iverson’s tenure was quickly filled The committee’s proposals led the FSU admin- with staff, faculty, and postdoctoral associates, istration to appreciate the value in supporting and was also used to host a series of outreach and growing the laboratory’s research capacity, events. An energy audit caused us to replace an epiphany that set the stage for significant outdated equipment with energy-efficient gear, changes in mission, organization, and scope of activity. and reduced our energy use by nearly half, The mission expanded from that of a support despite the growing number of residents. We facility to becoming a programmatically based landscaped the grounds and reorganized space center for research, education, and outreach, with to squeeze in a dive locker and graduate student a focus on the coastal and marine ecosystems of housing. And then took a breath. Next was the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The organiza- research. tion changed with the hiring of a full-time on-site director, three resident research faculty members, Research: The mission of the Marine Laborato- and three postdoctoral associates to get it off the ry—outlined at its inception—is now in full ground, and moving both the administrative swing: we focus on conducting innovative, support positions and the academic diving pro- interdisciplinary research on the coastal and gram from the main campus to the laboratory. marine ecosystems of the northeastern Gulf of The scope of activity expanded to include place- Mexico, and on providing the scientific under- based research, education, and outreach, and the pinnings for informed policy decisions. significantly increased involvement of undergrad- The first three faculty and three postdoctoral uate students in marine research. associates hired to tackle this mission arrived in 2007 and 2008. They brought in research dollars for the first time, research technicians, and more THE DIRECTOR recently, graduate students. Their hunger for Felicia C. Coleman.—(Director, 2006–), Ph.D. space and developing projects has been met by Florida State University (1991): Areas of exper- moving them into existing laboratory space, tise: reef fish ecology, marine fisheries manage- constructing storage units for gear, and convert- ment and policy. ing the Marcus greenhouses into labs used to 162 GULF OF MEXICO SCIENCE, 2010, VOL. 28(1–2) evaluate predator–prey interactions and genetic pollution, decreases in river flow, and shoreline diversity in sea grass and salt marsh plant systems. development—on the nursery function of estu- aries and other nearshore habitats. He has a RESIDENT SCIENTISTS strong interest in understanding both the acute effects of human-induced impacts on economi- David Kimbro (Ph.D., University of California, cally important species living in these habitats Davis) studies the community of organisms that and the longer-term effects that are mediated by live in oyster reef and salt marsh habitats. He interactions within coastal food webs. combines laboratory and field experiments with Farther offshore, Koenig and I study reef fish broad-scale monitoring to understand the suite species that have complex life cycles involving of environmental conditions—including nutri- individual life stages that move from pelagic to ents, phytoplankton, tidal inundation, salinity, inshore and to offshore habitats. At each stage, and temperature—that both promote and inhib- these fish have the potential to be affected by it predators from maintaining critical habitat all anthropogenic impacts. The focus of our re- along the NE gulf coastline. search is understanding how these impacts affect Randall Hughes (Ph.D., University of Califor- their productivity and life history. nia, Davis) examines the ecological effects of species and genetic diversity in salt marshes, sea Campus-based faculty.—The connection between grasses, and oyster reefs. Diversity often reduces the FSUCML and campus-based faculty remains the negative impacts of disturbance and thus active. Indeed, more of the research is becoming could be an important factor in the response of collaborative and interdisciplinary, involving these habitats to the oil spill. In addition, colleagues in the departments of Biological because these systems provide critical habitat Science and Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric for a wide variety of birds, fishes, and inverte- Sciences. They include William Burnett, who has brates, any factors that mitigate the negative evaluated submarine groundwater discharge as a effects of oil could have far-reaching community pathway for delivering nutrients and other and ecosystem effects. dissolved constituents from land to the coastal There is a strong fisheries ecology component ocean; Jeffrey Chanton, who uses stable isotopes at the FSUCML now, including scientists who use as a means of investigating linkages in marine fishery-independent surveys to develop baseline food webs; Joel Kostka, whose work focuses on habitat-specific indices of the relative abundance marine microbial communities and their func- of larger fishes, including sharks, grouper, and tion in enhancing nutrient availability in coastal many other species throughout the region. The areas; Markus Huettel, who investigates sedi- FSUCML shark studies, conducted by Dean ment–water exchange of O2 and nutrients in the Grubbs (Ph.D., Virginia Institute of Marine coastal zone, key parameters in biogeochemical Science), indicate that this region is home to at studies of marine systems; Kevin Speer, who runs least 12 species of sharks, including small and the Current Meter Facility, a field operations large coastal sharks that are managed at the system housed in part at the FSUCML that federal level. His data show that the extensive sea supports grant-funded research, including hy- grass beds in the Big Bend serve critical functions drographic observations in the NE Gulf of as pupping and nursery grounds for at least six of Mexico; and David Thistle, an expert in benthic these species. In addition, Christopher Stallings ecology, whose research includes studies of (Ph.D., Oregon State University), who studies copepod communities throughout the Gulf of population and community dynamics of marine Mexico—their systematics, morphology, re- organisms in sea grass beds and rocky sponge sponse to natural disturbances, and habitat reefs, finds that more than 10 species of associations. economically important bony fishes and many species of forage fishes inhabit these habitats as Education.—In 2006, we moved the administra- juveniles or adults (or both). This kind of tion of the Certificate Program in Marine information is critical for assessing the ecological Biology to the FSUCML. Herrnkind and I effects of habitat restoration efforts or improved developed this program over 10 yr ago, in the water quality, as well as the effects of habitat Department of Biological Science, to provide degradation caused by development, dredging, intensive research experiences for undergradu- or oil inundation. ate students who had already demonstrated a Farther to the west, from Apalachicola to the keen interest in marine science. Many of the Mississippi River, Kevin Craig (Ph.D., Duke students enrolled in the program are mentored University) assesses the effects of human-in- by FSUCML faculty and postdocs, as are other duced changes in water quality—such as nutrient undergraduates from FSU and other academic GREENBERG ET AL.— EVOLUTION OF THE FSUCML 163 institutions. Knowing a good thing—when we of ‘‘critical mass.’’ The selection, cohe- looked back in history and saw it—and with sion, and scientific productivity of this encouragement and early participation by community is the function of the Direc- Herrnkind, the lab also started offering summer tor, who is also a working member of it. courses that now include ‘‘saturation time’’ for The Awakening at the FSUCMLwas possi- undergraduate students at the Marine Lab. ble because the Director—with the help The faculty members at the FSUCML are also of the FSU administration—could achieve actively engaged in training graduate students, these goals. bringing in one student in 2008, four in 2009, 2. A close relationship between research and and anticipating several more in 2010. This education is common at marine laborato- activity has allowed the lab to grow the research ries, but its form is variable—seminars, data capacity beyond that provided by the faculty clubs, formal and informal technical train- themselves. ing, formal classes for residents, for visitors, in seasons, short, long, and classes for Outreach.—The ‘‘Forgotten Coast’’ of the Florida schoolchildren. But somehow, when an panhandle is rapidly gaining population with its interactive research community is lacking, associated coastal development. To provide education, particularly at the college level, information of interest to coastal residents, we sputters and winks out. The answer is clear: initiated, in 2006, a monthly Public Lecture research and teaching are closely related Series that usually fills the modest FSUCML everywhere—they are functions that inform auditorium to overflowing. Speakers include each other regardless of the site. If one local scientists, naturalists, state agency officers, can’t travel to do research at a marine lab and visiting authorities—a diversity of expertise. because his research and students are at a In addition, FSUCML has hosted numerous university, how can he come to teach, and symposia and conferences for small working abandon his research? groups, to exchange information about coastal 3. Reaching out to a community to increase its issues, fisheries, and living marine resource citizens’ understanding and appreciation of management. an institution’s perspectives, functions, and To further increase the lab’s visibility, we activities is absolutely critical for rural updated the website, developed a biannual marine laboratories like the FSUCML. online newsletter, and have continued the Fortunately, outreach has developed amaz- Marcus tradition of holding an open house every ingly at the FSUCML, as is emphasized in other year. We strongly support the SATS this article. But there are two lessons: show program, and have developed a series of & tell is not the same as research & teach; noncredit courses of our own that are geared and we must be careful that the commu- primarily for adult audiences interested in nity’s perception of our laboratory does not learning something about marine ecology. In swing strongly to the former. Keeping the addition, all of the researchers are involved in efforts spent on research, teaching, and providing service to state and federal agencies outreach in good proportion is a very responsible for the management of the living important function of the Director. marine resources of this region. It is considered an important and integral part of all research 4. University-operated marine laboratories are initiatives. always prey to the vagaries of administrative and cultural changes, changes in scientific priorities, financial disasters, hurricanes, CONCLUSIONS and oil spills. But the long history of the FSUCML clearly shows us that there is 1. A marine laboratory must aim to become an always a road back—and it could be a interactive community of scientists—stu- superhighway. dents, postdocs, and faculty—and staff, whose workplace is at the laboratory, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COASTAL &MARINE and who all live nearby. Moreover, their LABORATORY, 3618 COASTAL HIGHWAY,ST.TERESA, number, interests, ability, and relative FL 2358-2702. (MJG, WFH) RETIRED PAST permanence must be sufficient to main- DIRECTORS, FSUCML. (FCC) PRESENT DIRECTOR, tain the interaction, and this is the basis FSUCML.