Evolution of the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory
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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
I n 1949, just 2 yr after the Florida State College
for Women was transformed into a coeduca-
tional institution—The Florida State University
(FSUML) stuck for more than 4 decades.
In 2006, Felicia Coleman became the 13th
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 Alabama150
GULF OF MEXICO SCIENCE, 2010, VOL. 28(1–2)
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,
Apalachee Bay (Fig. 1),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 the152 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 the institute.
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,
3
and Zoology were integrated into a single Department of 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 summer154 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 course156 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 years158 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 wasGREENBERG 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 usingGREENBERG 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
THE DIRECTOR for the first time, research technicians, and more
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 toYou can also read
