DUML News Vol. 6, No. 1, Spring 1988

DUKE UNIVERSITY MARINE LABORATORY, BEAUFORT, NC 28516 .._ ____ .. DUML celebrates half a century

In Olympic competition, gold is the medai of most pre­cious metal signifying the apex of achievement . .AI. a mea­sure of endurance, gold is a true testament to tenacity. With either, there's a good excuse to celebrate. And, since a piece of each pinnacle brings Duke University Marine Laboratory to its 50th Anniversary this year, celebrate we will!

A long weekend of activities and festivities is planned for June 9, 10 and ll in commemoration of DUML's 50th Birthday, complete with noted names in science and hu­man affairs coming to Pivers Island to join staff, alumni and friends for the party.

The festivities begin on Thursday when the lab enter­tains the Carteret community with an open house begin­ning at 2 p.m. with tours every half hour through 4 p.m. to demonstrate and explain to neighbors and friends the activities that go on in our work place. We'll also entertain them with refreshments served in the auditorium.

Duke University Marine Lab, 1987

The science that epitomizes DUML's reason for being takes the prime agenda position Friday, June 10, as noted scientists with close connections to the Lab return to pre­sent papers from 9 a.m. until noon and 1 until 5 p.m. and visit with colleagues at a 6:30 p.m. cocktail hour. The evening has been left open for either formal or informal reunions.

Slated to speak are Dr. Larry P. Atkinson of Old Dom­inion University, Dr. Richard T. Barber of Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Dr. Robert D. Barnes of Get­tysburg College, Dr. Sylvia Earle of the California Acade­my of Sciences, Dr. Peter W. Hochachka of the University of British Columbia, Dr. Harold Humm of Brevard, Dr. Ian Macintyre of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Gilbert Rowe of Texas A&M, Dr. Sharon Smith of Brookhaven Na­tional Laboratory, and Dr. Stephen A. Wainwright of Duke.

Continued on Page 9.

The second quarter century-- 1964-1988 As indicated in the review "DUML - The First Quarter

Century - 1938-1963" (DUML News, Vol. 5, No. 2 Fall 1987), Duke University Marine Laboratory in the fall of 1963 was beginning to emerge as a nationally recognized marine facility, exceeding in many areas the original dream of its founder, Dr. A.S. Pearse. On Prof. Bookhout's return as Director in 1965, taking over the position which had been held for one year by Dr. Karl M. Wilbur, Zoology Department, Duke, planning was immediately initiated for a further expansion of the resident academic staff and accompanying physical facilities to provide for year-round research, expanded numbers of resident graduate students, increased numbers of visiting faculty from many U.S. universities, and anticipated expansion of course offerings during the regular summer semesters. This proposed expansion was realized through the agreement and pledged financial support of Duke University, the Duke Endowment, and the National Sci­ence Foundation. The responsibility for carrying out the program fell to the new Director, Dr. John D. Costlow. Beginning in 1968, and carrying over into the 1970's, completion of this effort resulted in the appointment of resident staff in marine ecology, physiological ecology, marine algology, and marine chemistry. Expanded research facilities took shape as a three-story, modern re­search facility, subsequently named for Prof. Emeritus C.G. Bookhout, a modern library/auditorium named for another major contributor to the academic program, Prof. Emeritus I.E. Gray, and a maintenance facility designed to improve the efficiency of the self-contained campus of dormitories, teaching and research laboratories, dining hall, and vessels and docking facilities. In addition, the plan provided a residence for the Laboratory's physical plant manager, and chemical storage facilities. Recognizing the expanding need for living accommodations for visiting scientists, an apartment complex in nearby Beaufort was provided as a gift to the Marine Laboratory by the Cocos Foundation. In keeping with national trends to identify greater emphasis on molecular aspects of living organisms, additional staff appointments included marine biochemistry and membrane physiology.

Following the resignation of the first oceanographic director, Dr. Richard Barber, biological oceanographer involved in studies on coastal upwelling, assumed the responsibility for this program for the next 15 years. Recognizing the need for a mid-life refit of the RIV EASTWARD, in the early '80's Dr. Barber formed the Duke/UNC Oceanographic Consortium and successfully competed with a number of other institutions to construct and manage a new, 135-foot ocean going research vessel, R/V CAPE HATTERAS. As part of the National Science Foundation/University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System fleet, the 296-gross-ton vessel now spends between 150 and 285 days annually in coastal Atlantic waters between the Bay of Fundy and the Nicaraguan Rise. Responsibility for the program w~s assumed in 1983 by the first resident marine geologi~t. Dr. Thomas Johnson.

As ,was originally anticij)ated, the expansion of resident staff, now representing Hve different academic

2

The quad departments and two Schools of Duke University, resulted in a variety of new research programs, innovative additions to the ever expanding undergraduate and graduate teaching programs, and representation of the Laboratory in state, national, and international research and policy issues. In order to provide referenced material and develop summaries of distribution and abundance of marine plants and animals used for teaching and research, Dr. William Kirby-Smith, following the wishes of Prof. Emeritus I.E. Gray, established the Natural History Resource Center. It includes an extensive reference collection of marine organisms, a library of taxonomic references and ecological publications, and a research laboratory designed to facilitate the collection, preservation, and identification of marine organisms. In the late 1970's, stimulated by the ongoing research of biochemists Drs. Joseph and Celia Bonaventura, the Na­tional Institute of Environmental Health Sciences established one of the three national centers at the Duke University Marine Laboratory. The Duke Marine Biomedical Center, co-directed by its originators, focuses attention on marine and freshwater environmental and biochemical topics. It promotes interdisciplinary research on the mechanisms and effects of toxic chemicals in the estuarine and marine environments, encourages the use of marine and freshwater organisms as experimental models, and carries out physiological and biochemical research on problems of environmental health significance. The program is based on the underlying premise that the results of basic research on mechanisms and the effects of environmental toxicants on many marine organisms may he translated to applications which benefit human health.

In keeping with national concern over environmental degradation and the need for a broader base of research into coastal and environmental problems, the Environmental Protection Agency has continued to sponsor a number of research efforts during the decade of the '70's and '80's. These include a facility for studies on the influence of chronic temperature increases on epihenthic communities, the impact of a number of pesticides, herbicides, and insect growth regulators on larval development of estuarine and coastal invertebrate organisms, and ongoing studies to determine the fates and

l i

effects of herbicides and pesticides resulting from stormwater runoff adjacent to estuarine waters. This effort to determine whether the runoff of agrichemicals into estuaries may have adverse effects on the flora and fauna represents a cooperative venture between the Duke University Marine Laboratory, the Open Grounds Farm, Inc., and the Environmental Protection Agency.

AB part of an overall effort to better understand the marine environment, individual staff research efforts have been directed into the realms of community structure, behavior, and physiological and biochemical adaptation of individual organisms and cell membranes. Thus, Dr. John Sutherland has focused on seasonal and regional changes in fouling communities and Dr. Richard Forward has concentrated on the response of planktonic organisms to intensities and specific wavelengths- of light. Probing well beneath the exterior Dr. J. Bolling Sullivan has investigated biochemical changes in marine species related to specific aspects of adaptation and Dr. John Gutknecht has concen­trated on how the molecular structure of cell membranes actively contributes to selection and rejection of specific compounds. Dr. Thomas C. Johnson's research has included efforts to determine ancient cycles of climate from bottom cores taken from lakes in Malawi, while Dr. Joseph Ramus, as an algologist, has concerned himself with natural factors contributing to blooms of phytoplankton in estuarine waters. Dr. Marius Brouwer, a protein biochemist, is attempting to develop a blood sub­stitute, utilizing as one approach mutant human hemoglobin.

A number of Durham based staff, utilizing the facilities of DUML as time permits, have added further to

Sen. Terry Sanford 3

the widening research interests. Thus, Dr. David McClay has been involved with aspects of early cell differentiation in echinoderms, Dr. Rick Searles continues to focus on systematics and distribution of macroalgae, and Dr. J.D. Robertson attempts to unravel the mysteries of the "learning" process in higher molluscs, the octopus. Dr. Steve Wainwright, interested in the area of biomechanics, has concentrated on mechanisms of movement in elasmobranchs.

AB a participant in the International Decade of Ocean Exploration, Dr. Barber and many of his associates and graduate students initiated in 1970 a long-term program entitled "Coastal Upwelling Ecosystem Analysis." This program, the results of which are still being further explored, led to an overall interest in El Nind', atmospheric-oceanic interactions, and the degree to which large scale global effects may have direct implication on the availability and fluctuation of natural resources in coastal areas.

Although the original teaching program under the direction of Dr. A.S. Pearse was largely limited to providing basic courses in marine zoology and botany for Duke upper level and graduate students, the expansion in the late '60's soon involved the teaching program, aspects of which have continued into the late '80's. In 1972, the Laboratory undertook its first undergraduate spring term, a program designed to provide Duke undergraduates with an opportunity to be involved in field and laboratory studies at the coast, including a sustained period of independent research under the direction of one of the resident Laboratory staff. Shortly thereafter, this was followed by increasing the two summer terms to three, in part to provide for new curricula and in part to give undergraduates at Duke an opportunity to take fully ac­credited undergraduate courses at the Laboratory. Althour,h originally intended for Duke students, by the early 70's it was apparent that many different in­stitutions, aware of the quality and uniqueness of the program at DUML, had begun to send their graduate students to participate. Over the years the Marine Laboratory has involved students from approximately 300 different institutions throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Building on this, the Cooperative Undergraduate Program in the Marine Sciences was developed in 1972. Initially involving six institutions, this specially scheduled course permits their students to have a five week program at the Laboratory without interfering with the regularly scheduled academic programs of their home institution. Expanded further in the early '80's by Dr. Joe Ramus, the Marine Science Education Consortium offers year-round opportunities to undergraduate students from 15 different U.S. institutions. Discussions with colleagues at another of the Duke Endowment schools, Davidson College, resulted in a special, alternate year "term" which brings 18 biology majors from Davidson for a rigorous series of lectures, laboratories, field trips, and independent research projects under the direction of one of their own academic staff. Mindful of the need of individuals whose financial position might not enable them to participate in the Laboratory programs, the U.S. Office of Naval Research, beginning in 1979, has funded a cooperative program between DUML and Jackson State University, Mississippi. Thirty-eight students from Jackson State have now completed programs at varying

Continued on Page 8.

29 years and a tall tale or two A sure cure for seasickness on DUML vessels is the rem­

edy reputedly offered by FIRST MATE Captain James Willis: Tie a string around a piece of salt pork and swal­low it, then pull it hack up. Ugh!

But if the string is of the yarn James spins, it'll work every time. He's a tall tale teller who shakes at least a grain of truth into each story and sometimes, perhaps even often, makes practicalities of sea. science seem crystal clear.

James came to Duke University Marine Laboratory in the summer of 1959, experienced already in a variety of marine occupations that made him uniquely suited for the "jack of all trades" position he assumed as first mate of maintenance behind his friend and former shipyard co­worker, Norris HilL

A Carteret County native - a Marshallberg hoy, James left for Newport News, Va., at 17 in a three-year stint with the Coast and Geodetic Survey, then moved to the Army Transportation Corps during World War II adding two more years to his time away from home.

"I was always raised on water and always drawn hack to the ocean," he said of his coming home. "So I came hack after five years and tried fishing for a living. It gets in your blood and it's hard to get out. I was crabhin', fishin', and flounderin' hut it didn't pan out like I thought. I tried for a year until my wife finally said we were about to starve to death so I went hack to the shipyard to make ends meet."

"One day Mr. Hill came to the shipyard and said, 'there's a better life than this for you,'" James said, and later that day he interviewed with Norris and former Ma­rine Lab Director Dr. C.G. Bookhout and got the job that has been evolving every since.

After James had been employed for about a year, oper­ation of the boat to run divers offshore, done more often then, became his. Frequently he took the BEVERIDGE, a boat he helped build in the shipyard five years earlier and ultimately captained for 14 years, 30 to 35 miles off­shore in search of wrecks and ledges and the assorted species of fish and sea life nearby.

As facul.ty, funding and the resulting research at DUML changed, so did his job, and he traveled into the estuaries, towards brackish, then fresh waters in Adams Creek and the Neuse River where bottom surveys and water sampling were key parts of the job.

But always it has been the people that made his job a joy, James said.

"Being Captain and enjoying the different nationalities of people," are the high points of his DUML experience, he said, an experience he's shared with a group of co­workers who have "more or less grown up together ... we're all like a family. I don't know how to describe it hut it made it a pleasant place to work."

"It's nice having people come in and out. Sometimes people come who've never seen salt water, never seen a live fish or crab, never knew things like this existed until they saw it here," he said.

James has seen the bravado of young people swearing they cduldn't get seasick, then watched them get "so sick they'd try to jump overboard and swim hack."

4

James Willis

He has rescued capsized sailors from five-foot swells and picked up students who'd piled too much weight on the front of a skiff and "sunk her like a submarine."

James will he leaving soon, retiring April 30, after al­most 29 years.

"I don't know I'll feel that good about going," he said, ''hut you've got to have a little time to yourself with your wife and family to enjoy what time you have got."

He plans to travel with his wife, Druscilla, knowing "it is going to he different navigation on land than on water.

"And I'm gonna go out and he to myself on the water, get me a peck a oysters and clams to eat, a few shrimp.

"Yeah, I'm gonna travel a little, piddle around and catch a wink or two," he said, with a grinning assurance that it is his time to he quiet with his world.

And, yeah, he'll he missed.

Reflections on a golden anniversary A time of colorful memories. A time when formal edu­

cation was made less of a task and more of an adventure. For DUML alumni, the Lab is recalled with a blur of

memories: working late nights on an independent study project, class trips to Shackleford Banks, trawling and dredging, getting a boat stuck in the "muck," studying and sunbathing on the dock, lively discussions in the din­ing hall while enjoying Tommy and Sly's "homestyle" cooking.

A comparison of the fond recollections of the DUML class of 1938 with those of 1987 will obviously reflect some variation, yet the admiration of the educational ex­perience at DUML has spanned the 50 years of the Lab's existence.

That admiration is due to the Marine Lab's dedication to quality teaching, emphasis on state-of-the-art research, and most importantly, the faculty and staff who have continued to make students feel like they are an impor­tant part of the DUML community. The hard work that has been invested into the Marine Lab by faculty, staff,

5

and students over the years has not gone unnoticed. Alumni can be proud that DUML has become an interna­tionally renowned research laboratory.

We hope that the alumni of DUML, from 1938 through 1987, will consider journeying back to Pivers Island in June for the Marine Lab's 50th anniversary. This will be an ideal time to organize DUML class reunions, share memories with fellow DUML alumni from a different gen­eration, and see for oneself how the Marine Lab is func­tioning in 1988. We think that you will like what you see.

Convenient lodging is available now in Beaufort. Rooms in the Beaufort Inn (919/728-2600) and the Inlet Inn (919/728-3600) have been reserved for our returning alumni. We suggest that alumni groups make their reser­vations soon since the inns will probably fill up quickly.

We hope alumni will join the current staff, faculty, and students in celebrating DUML's golden anniversary: A time to reflect on special memories and a time to make new ones.

-- Michele Shivers

WHERE ARE YOU? By Dr. C.G. Bookhout

"Dear Friends, - A very unexpected job offer has brought me back to Tallahassee as chief Curator of Collections and Research at the Museum of Florida History. While I miss my friends in Memphis, I'm delighted to be back among old friends and new opportunities. Come visit!" Mary Potts Montgomery

1906 Fairlane Road Tallahassee, FL 32303 (904- 386-1358)

Museum of Florida History 500 S. Bronough Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 (904- 488-1484)

MAXIMO J. CERAME-VIVAS was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico on the 26th of February, 1936. He obtained his B.S. from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras with a major in Biology and minor in Chemistry. He ob­tained his M.A. degree in 1961 under Dr. Bookhout in In­vertebrate Zoology and a Ph.D. in Marine Ecology in 1964 under Dr. Gray. His thesis work for his Ph.D. was done at the Duke University Marine Laboratory. He returned to University of Puerto Rico in 1964 and taught there until the end of 1966. In January, 1967, he was appointed Di­rector of the Institute of Marine Biology at University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. In 1971, he was elevated from Associate Professor to Professor. Under his direction the Institute of Marine Biology became a full Department of Marine Sciences in August 1968 with its own graduate curriculum for the master's degree and after 1972 for the Ph.D.

Dr. Cerame-Vivas served as secretary to the Puerto Rico Legislative Commission on Natural Resources in 1966. In 1967 he led the research team that studied the OCEAN EAGLE oil spill at the inlet to San Juan Harbor. He was a member of the National Academy of Science Committee on Ecological Research for the Interoceanic Panama Canal during 1969-1972. In 1972 he was appointed advisor to the Puerto Rico Secretary of Natural Resources. He was an advisor to UNESCO and the Government of Trinidad­Tobago for the establishment of a marine laboratory there in 1976-1977. He was scientific advisor to the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board for the ZOE COLO­COTRONI oil spill litigation in federal court in 1977, the first case in the nation where a state was ever awarded damages for harm to its marine resources. This spill oc-curred off LaPanquerz, Puerto Rico. . .

From 1978 to 1982, he was a member of the Environ­mental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board. While on the Board he served on the Ecology Committee, Water Quality Committee, Pollutant Fate and Effects Commit­tee, and also served as Chairman of the Marine Ecosys­tems Monitoring Task Group. He was a member of the Puerto Rico Government Environmental Advisory Council from 1983 -1985; Associate Director for the University of Puerto Rico Sea Grant Program in 1983; and Marine Advi­sory Services Coordinator for the University of Puerto Rico Sea Grant Program in 1984. He will retire this year from the U~versity after 30 years of service as a Professor, administrator and researcher with 25 scientific publica-

6

tions to his credit. He has been married to Rita Maria Colon for the past

28 years. They have five children, four of whom have graduated from college and the youngest is entering col­lege this year. Their oldest son is an automotive engineer for Chrysler Corporation in Detroit, Ml; their second, a daughter, helps her husband in his fruit juice industry (Caribik Sun, Parha Punch); their third, a son, is a chemi­cal engineer for Dow at Midland, MI.; their fourth, a daughter, is finishing her B.A. in Fashion Design at Florida State University; and their fifth, a son, is entering Inter­American University this fall.

JUSTINE D. SMITH took Dr. Bookhout's Invertebrate course in the summer of 1983 and graduated from Duke with a major in Biology in May 1984. In the fall of 1984, she was admitted to a two-year interdisciplinary program leading to the Master of Marine Affairs (M.M.A.) degree of­fered by the Institute for Marine Studies of the University of Washington at Seattle.

Upon completing her graduate work, she accepted a po­sition with the Army Corps of Engineers in Seattle. In her Christmas card, she wrote that it is the perfect job for her.

"I'm currently a 'biologist' working as an environmental coordinator for Corps dredging activities. This includes writing regulatory permit decisions for dredging and filling activities, which is a Corps responsibility under the Clean Water Act, and overseeing and coordinating 'beneficial' use of dredged material such as habitat creation."

J. WILLIAM LITTLER, M.D., writes that he is especially interested in the 50th reunion of the Duke University Ma­rine Laboratory since during the summer of 1938 he worked as Dr. A.S. Pearse's laboratory assistant and resi­dent artist at DUML. During the summer he worked on the polyclads of the coasts of the Carolinas and published a paper with Dr. Pearse on them. He also helped Dr. Pearse prepare an edition of his Ecology book.

Bill was an undergraduate major in Zoolo7Y at Duke from 1935 to 1938. He was in Dr. Bookhouts freshman Zoology course and his laboratory notebook was the best out of three sections. Later, he worked as Dr. Bookhout's NYA assistant outside of class. He entered Duke Medical School in the fall of 1938. After receiving his M.D. from Duke, he did postdoctoral work in plastic surgery in Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, Md. Thereafter, he es­tablished a successful practice in New York City.

DR. DON STEARNS, who has been doing research on diel changes in copepod egg production at the Marine En­vironmental Sciences Consortium at the Dauphin Island Sea Laboratory in Alabama, has moved to Texas. He will

he stationed at the University of Texas Marine Laboratory in Port Aransas. While there he will be doing research with Dr. Edward Busky on photoresponses in copepods. Don did his Ph.D. research at DUML under Dr. Richard

DR. FRANCISCO CHAVEZ entered the Graduate School of Duke University in September 1979. On the main campus of the University he took Mycology with Dr. Terry Johnson, Principals of Plant Distribution with Dr. Dwight Billings, and Plant Metabolism with Dr. James Siedow. In the summer of 1980, he moved to Beaufort and at DUML he took Marine Phycology with Dr. Richard Searles and Photosynthesis and Physiological Ecology of Marine Plants with Dr. Joseph Ramus. The remainder of his time at DUML was dedicated exclusively to research.

The data set on which he wrote his Ph.D. dissertation under the direction of Dr. Richard Barber was collected in northern Peru. Early in 1982, Dr. Barber and Francisco went to Peru and traveled the coast with members of the Peruvian Navy in search of a suitable study site. The site chosen was Paita, Peru, which is at 5 degrees South Lati­tude. In June 1982, Francisco returned there, hired a fish­ing boat, and taught members of the Paita Laboratory of the lnstituto del Mardel to make the observations which he needed. Arrangements were made to take the fishing boat about 15 kilometers offshore three times a week be­ginning in June 1982 and ending in April 1984. At the study site, physical, chemical and biological observations were made at four levels: 0, 10, 25 and 60 meters. In ad­dition to this shore station approach to oceanography, he also collected data on a series of larger scale oceanograph­ic expeditions which took place in the eastern tropical Pacific. The ships on which he worked included the RN RESEARCHER of NOAA, the RN WECOMA from Oregon State University and the RN ENDEAVOR from the Uni­versity of Rhode Island. He was chief scientist on the EN­DEAVOR during the cruise in April 1984. During the peri­od of study he sampled the most intense episode on record of an interannual atmospheric and oceanic pertur­bation, known commonly as El Nino. Appropriately, the title of his dissertation was "Oceanic Variability and Phytoplankton Community Structure." He found that circulation patterns and the degree of vertical mixing were more important in determining the phytoplankton species composition, than resources, such as light or major inorganic nutrients.

Mter earning his Ph.D. at DUML, Francisco took a posi tion as assistant scientist at the newly formed Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, which has Dr. Barber as Executive Director. At the Institute, the scientists are studying the Monterey Bay Canyon and its associated wa­ters, which also include the California Current System. One specific problem which Francisco will tackle is the machine recognition of phytoplankton species.

Francisco was a productive scholar while he was a grad­uate student at DUML. He was the senior author of five refereed publications and co-author of four. He was also senior author of U other publications and co-author of three others.

I received an interesting Christmas letter from DR. FRANK MATURO, currently Professor of Zoology at the University of Florida at Gainesville. Frank received his Ph.D. in 1956. His graduate work and thesis were done on the Dur,ham and Beaufort campuses of Duke University.

He writes that his summer marine program at Seahorse

7

Key is a roaring success. "It's fun, like Beaufort days used to he. I teach Inverte­

brate Zoology each fall to a class of 64 and also do an Oceanographic Practicum for eight students in the Ba­hamas during October (five-day training cruise on the state's vessel RN BELLOWS).

"Have been do:in'g some exciting research on fertilization in bryozoans. We are looking at self-fertilization potentials, brooding, metamorphosis, age at sexual maturity and senescence. We have some species that complete their life cycle-birth to old age in about two weeks! Others take 8-10 months just to reach sexual maturity.

"I now have logged 10-12 dives in the Johnson-Sealink submersible to depths of 1800 to 2600 feet on the conti­nental slope 200 miles west of Ft. Myers, FL. We have been studying the biology of the Golden crab, Geryon fenneri. The benthic communities of rocky outcrops and canyon faces at these depths are incredible."

ANDREA JOHNSON completed her Master's thesis in Geology in the fall of 1987 at DUML. Her thesis, "Plio­Pleistocene Fluctuations of the Western Boundary Under­current: DSDP site 533," was done under the direction of Dr. Thomas Johnson. Mter passing her examinatio~ for the M.S. degree, she accepted a position with the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Maryland as a hydro­geologist.

DR. CYNTHIA PILSKALN, who has been a research as­sociate of Dr. Thomas Johnson working on sediment trap studies in African lakes, took a position with Monterey Bay Research Institute in January 1988. She will continue to collaborate with Dr. Johnson on the African research and he connected to the Laboratory with the recent award of an NSF grant for the study of fecal pellets in the Black Sea.

DR. MARY LOU LINDEGREN ('81 B.S.; '86 M.D. Duke) is Pediatric Resident at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. She has recently written that she has spent a month in the Philippines and in Thailand. In the Philippines, she worked in Laotian and Vietnamese refugee camps and it was an enjoyable learning experience.

Mary Lou took Dr. Bookhout's Zoology 176, Marine In­vertebrate Zoology course, in the summer of 1979.

ROBERT L. SCHWARZ is currently associated with Warren W. York & Co., Inc. in investment securities in Al­lentown, Pa. He was one of the most enthusiastic students at DUML in March 1938 and in the summer of 1939. Throughout the years from the early days to the present, he has returned often, commented. on articles in DUML News, contributed background information for Bookhout's "History of DUML", and sent Drs. Costlow and Bookhout articles in marine biology which interested him. He writes that he takes his four grandchildren to the seashore and trains them how to pick up crabs, to find horse-shoe crabs, and to tell the difference between males and fe­males. He states that he will he at the 50th Anniversary of the founding of DUML even if they have to carry him to Beaufort.

The 2nd quarter century Continued from Page 3.

levels and gone on to a variety of opportunities related to the program at the Laboratory. Subsequently, through financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation and in cooperation with a second Duke Endowment school, Johnson C. Smith University, the National Minority Fellowship Program in the Marine Sciences was initiated and carried out for several years. Expanding the educational programs still further led to the Office of Naval Research sponsoring a High School Internship Program, which selects high school students from Carteret County schools and the North Carolina School of Mathematics and Science for a ten-week experience in independent research at the Laboratory. The highly successful Duke University Talent Identification Program has also made use of the Laboratory by offering gifted 8-llth grade students from 16 southeastern states a three week opportunity for courses at the Laboratory.

Within the second twenty five years the size and scope of the graduate program also increased. Initially devoted largely to students from the departments of Botany and Zoology, there is now participation by those from Geology, Physiology, Biochemistry, and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. In the decade of the '50's, one or two graduate students would have been in residence. In the '80's 15 to 18 students are normally found pursuing advanced degrees through the facilities and financial support provided by DUML.

At the end of the 50th year, in addition to the formal courses offered at the Marine Laboratory, numerous insti­tutions utilize the facilities for field trips and short courses. In 1987, 3,639 individuals took part in such visits, including a number of seminars and workshops for both scientific groups and government agencies involved with the marine environment.

The decade of the '70's witnessed increasing involvement by scientists from not only U.S. institutions but from scientific groups around the world. With funding from UNESCO and the Rockefeller Foundation, the Laboratory developed the "International Training Program in the Marine Sciences." Annually it provided for participation of 20 pre- and postdoctoral level scientists from developing countries in study and research at DUML; The involvement of these 100 scientists, representing 26 different countries, offered numerous contacts for resident staff and graduate students, many of which are still being expanded. Scientists from major European countries were invited to teach in a number of the summer courses, spend periods of time here for sabbatical research or, on short visits to the United States, to stop by for consultation and seminars. In this way the Marine Laboratory has welcomed scientists from 45 countries over the last 18 years. In a reciprocal manner, a number of the DUML resident staff have participated in collaborative research efforts with their foreign colleagues. Thus, in recent years there have been scientific publications identifying research efforts with scientists from around the world.

As the scientific staff and the visibility of the Laboratory have expanded, the DUML role in education has gone far beyond the conventional, formal, academic programs normally associated with universities. In this new role, providing guidance and direction in policy issues

8

Dr. C.G. Bookhout

at the level of the state, the nation, and the global com­munity, a large number of the staff have become directly or indirectly involved. Thus the last few years have seen staff involved with the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission, the Biotechnology Committee, the Marine Sciences Council, the Estuarine Sanctuary Program, the Marine Fisheries Commission, and the Albemarle/Pamlico Estuarine Study. Staff of DUML, working with the Town of Beaufort, the Diocese of Eastern North Carolina, the Nature Conservancy, and rep­resentatives of state and federal agencies, played a major role in initiating the Rachal Carson Estuarine Sanctuary adjacent to the Laboratory and the town. On a national scale, staff have served in various capacities with the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Sea Grant Programs.

Unfortunately, this increased involvement in teaching and research, and further involvement in appropriate sci­entific and policy matters at many levels, has been darkened by the shadow of "retrenchment" in the 1980's. Concerned over increasing costs, the Laboratory was reorganized as a "formula facility," with the charge of becoming financially independent within a five year period. Fortunately, the charge was altered in 1983, but at the end of our 50th year, our annual budget of 1. 7 million dollars receives only 11% from Duke University. In the interest of providing long-term financial stability, a variety of efforts have evolved in recent years. An Advisory Board was formed in 1986 of friends of the Laboratory, its primary role to provide guidance and assistance in seeking and developing a broader base of financial support. In part related to the Capital

Campaign for the Arts & Sciences, this effort has resulted in increasing the Annual Giving from a few dollars in 1980 to $70,000 in 1987. A number of individual endowments for undergraduate tuition, graduate fellowships, and academic chairs have also been forth­coming. A total of nine scholarship endowments and ten identified for other purposes have been established for a total of 3.2 million dollars. Recognizing that increased enrollments during the undergraduate fall and spring terms are essential to our long-term contribution to the University, a variety of efforts have been initiated to attract more Duke students and also to encourage more participation by students from the ever expanding list of MSEC schools. Although the vast majority of research programs at the Laboratory are in the realm of basic research, provided by a variety of federal and state granting agencies which contribute through indirect cost return to our annual budget, recent years have seen a number of research grants and contracts involved with private industry. These include the artificial gill developed by the Bonaventuras and the discovery of non­toxic, antifouling compounds for potential use in marine antifouling paint by researchers Costlow, Rittschof, and Hooper. These have offered opportunities for additional financial support, not only through the research grants and contracts hut also through the royalties, licensing fees, and patents.

At the end of our 50 years, therefore, the Marine Laboratory of Duke University truly represents an ongoing, evolutionary process from that which was originally envisioned by Doc Pearse in 1935. Only time can tell how we may further evolve in our second half century hut it is apparent, from current efforts to reorganize the Laboratory in keeping with trends at the University, that the teaching and research will continue to represent the highest quality and, with meaning unique to each individual, contribute further to many aspects of the marine sciences throughout the United States and the world.

Bookhout Laboratory 9

Dr. John D. Costlow, DUML Director

50th DUML birthday Continued from Page 1.

The formal anniversary ceremonies are set for 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 11, with Duke University President H. Keith H. Brodie as the master of ceremonies introducing other distinguished guests including U.S. Sen. Terry San­ford, U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones, Dr. Earl Mac Cormac -science advisor to North Carolina Gov. James Martin, National Academy of Sciences Vice President James Ebert and National Science Foundation Geosciences Director Robert Corell. The Marine Corps Band will play and both present DUML Director John D. Costlow and former Director C.G. Bookhout will also he on hand.

Tours will precede the ceremony, beginning in the au­ditorium at 1 p.m., and the party will follow with an offi­cial cake cutting, open bar under the tents on the quad at 5 p.m. and an old-fashioned, "Downeast" clam hake he­ginning at 6 p.m.

Alumni, former staff, and friends of the Lab are invited and encouraged to share this DUML milestone and join the party. Please let us know via the enclosed RSVP so we can better plan. It's a golden opportunity for us all.

r----------------------------Duke University Marine Laboratory

50th Anniversary Celebration June 9-11, 1988

will be attending: (Name)

___ The Scientific Presentations Friday, June 10 and 6:30 p.m. Cocktail Party

___ The 50th Anniversary Celebration Ceremonies, June 11 and 6:00p.m. Downeast Clambake

There will be ____ in my party.

----------------------------~

The Staff The Research DRS. CELIA AND JOE BONA VENTURA, a pair of

peripatetic scientists whose wanderings generally bring home an oddity or treasure (or at least a hat!), now have a tangible expression of that faculty. In a recent trip to Brazil to secure blood for their hemoglobin research from

an individual with a rare genetic disorder, Dr. Joe Bonaventura journeyed into the jungle near Belo Horizonte and collected a rare animal called a Peripatus.

, The primitive and unique ani­mal - a creature that falls somewhere between a worm or snail and an insect - has no common name. The Bonaven­turas plan to examine its

oxygen- carrying properties and prepare a genomic library of this "living fossil."

This is an aside, however, from the thrust of the cur­rent research of the Marine Biomedical Center. At a De­cember International Symposium on Oxygen Binding Pro­teins in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Dr. Celia Bonaventura ad­dressed the group on the Bonaventura's hypothesis that hemoglobin in red blood cells function as the first line of defense against toxic chemicals we breathe, eat or are otherwise exposed to. Dr. Joe Bonaventura's talk focused on the abnormal human hemoglobin, Hemoglobin Chico, and how even a very small change in hemoglobin structure has profound effect on its oxygen carrying properties. On Dr. Joe Bonaventura's second trip, he also stopped at the University of Campinas where he left some scientific equipment for collaborative work on Hemoglobin Chico and the hemoglobin of snakes with Professor Aldo Focesi of the University of Campinas Medical School. A mid­February trip took Dr. Joe Bonaventura to the Veteran's Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, again in search of new genes, where he got blood samples from another patient that has an abnormal hemoglobin.

DR. MARIUS BROUWER, between three pending research funding grants (NIH, NSF and DOE), is as busy

as ever, presently working on a study of the mechanism by which levels of copper are being regulated in marine organisms. He explained that since copper is required for the biological ac­tivity of many proteins and as it is potentially toxic, organisms must have developed a very fine-tuned stratagem of coping with the metal. Marine organ­

isms are particularly well suited to the study of the dy­namics of copper regulation since they contain large amounts of a copper-containing protein, hemocyanin, which is broken down and resynthesized during their molt cycle.

10

DR. JOHN COSTLOW's renewal of his Department of Energy grant provides for his continued research focusing

on the extent to which regener­ation of appendages of crab larvae can be used as a highly sensitive index of sublethal levels of toxicants as opposed to the conventional use of lethal limits. Since the regeneration of appen­dages of larvae takes far less time than in the adult crabs, and contains muscle, nervous,- and circulatory tissues, it may serve

not only as a very useful index of low level pollution but also as a specific indicator as to how certain compounds act. Preliminary results indicate that levels of certain pollutants, well below those which cause death, do interfere with the process of regeneration. One surprising result is that certain levels, while permitting morphological regeneration, result in an appendage which superficially appears normal but which is incapable of performing the usual functions of a claw.

DR. RICHARD FORWARD's current research deals with the depth regulation of crustacean larvae. It appears that the depth is regulated through an interaction of behavioral responses to light and hydrostatic pressure. Additional studies, however, are considering pheromone regulation of egg hatching among crabs. Dr. Forward's work on this project is funded by grants from the National Science Foundation.

DR. THOMAS C. JOHNSON is continuing his research of LakeTurkana, Africa, and is preparing for field work in

October. Funded by the National Science Foundation, he is looking for evidence of change in climate - wet versus dry conditions - and expansions and contractions of the Sahara Desert on a time scale of decades. Previously he and postdoctoral research associate Dr. John Halfman worked on a time period of the last 4,000 years but are now focusing on

the last 200 years, looking particularly at man's impact on climatic change. Dr. Johnson is continuing his work on Lake Malawi, Africa, and in May will recover a sediment trap left in the lake for a year. In another ongoing project, Dr. Johnson is continuing his interaction with the Undersea Motion Research Program for planned sub­mersible work in 1989 and later. In work funded by a consortium of oil companies, Dr. Johnson continues his re­search on rift lake sediments.

The solo studies of DR. JOHN GUTKNECHT continue his year-long work on the effects of fatty acids on cell

membranes. In the work Dr. Gutknecht expects to pursue for at least another year, he is examining the ability of fatty acids to carry protons through the membrane. This work is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

DR. JOSEPH RAMUS and his research team including Dr. Bruce Kenney, Bill Kroen, and :Mary Connelly Jones, are currently involved in biotech­nology ,working with exo-polymers from microalgae. He explains that synthetic polymers such as rayon and polyesters have a very low information content because they are made of a single unit repeated over and over again. Natural polymers have high information content hut scient­ists do not yet know their pro­perties or how they can be used. Funded by the Navy, one potential application for this research is the isolation of a noise dampening polymer to make ship hulls smoother, sleeker and quieter.

Dr. Ramus is also digging himself out of a data glut that he says will keep him, Drs. Bruce Kenney, Wayne Litaker and Cliff Duke "writing for another decade." His Pulse Project, that from 1982-84 sampled the estuaries more time-intensively than ever before with a variety of parameters, has left him with volumes of information to analyze and publish hut no funded time to do it. So, he's drafting funding proposals for other more contained projects, as one currently submitted to NSF to look at the mechanistic bases of a phenomenon photoinhibition in the marine algae and another in the drafting stage that proposes to examine the relation between optical geometry and light capture in marine algae.

DR. JOHN SUTHERLAND is currently analyzing a data set on Chthamalus fissus gathered in Costa Rica from

, 1983-85 which he expects to publish sometime this year. In a more local study, Dr. Sutherland and collaborator Dr. Sonia Ortega and graduate stu­dent Mark Camera, are working with an Albemarle - Pamlico Estuarine Study focusing on oyster survival. Additional field work will be done this summer to complement information col­

lected by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries on the density and size of spat (baby) oysters on cultch dumped in the last 20 years as part of a plan to revitalize the oyster industry. Dr. Ortega will also be analyzing data on Fissurella vinescens or limpids, gathered in a demographic study along the coast of Coata Rica, Dr. SutheJ;"land will seek new grant support for continued work in Central America and Peru.

11

DR. BILL KIRBY-SMITH's current research focuses on the effects of pesticides on estuarine ecosystems as well as

a project of mapping estuarine research reserves, formerly, called sanctuaries. Dr. Kirby­Smith is also preparing to teach for the first time this summer the Invertebrate Zoology course formerly taught by DR. C.G. BOOKHOUT.

DR. DAN RITTSCHOF has his hands in a variety of research projects although he laments that as his life in science moves forward, his actual hands-on research is subjugated to proposal writing, coordinating and writing for publication. He is currently collaborating with DR. RICHARD FORWARD on an NSF­funded study of crab pheromones and larval release behavior. Dr. Rittschof is also doing natural products antifouling work for the Hercules Chemical Company, and in collaboration with DR. JOHN D. COSTLOW and DR. JOE BONAVENTURA is attempting to engineer a non-toxic antifouling coat for the Navy. In the near future, he expects a visit from "the father of modern barnacle research," Dr. Dennis Crisp, a Fellow of the Royal Society, who is a visiting professor from the College of Ocean Studies at the University of North Wales.

Another Rittschof project focuses on olfaction, or sense of smell, in terrestrial crabs; another on clam behavior as it relates to bird predetation; and within the next month, he will begin work on developing palatable fin fish feed for Biosponge Aquaculture Products, Inc.

Dr. Thomas Edward Powell Jr., left, with Dr. C.G. Bookhout, Is shown In 1987 on one of hls last vlslts to DUML before his death. Dr. Powell was part of the 1938 group that helped promote and found the Lab. Powell was born ln Warrenton, N.C., on July 6, 1899. Duke conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science on Dr. Powell In May last year.

Ship Notes. • H it seems as though the R!V CAPE HATTERAS has

been at the Duke University Marine Laboratory dock for months, it's because she was. After her return from the shipyard in November, CAPE HATTERAS was tied to the dock for all but a few days. But that changed in March when she began her 1988 cruise year in earnest.

There are 202 operating days scheduled for 1988 and all of them fall between March and October. Those eight months have 245 days, so CAPE HATTERAS will be away from the DUML dock over 80 percent of that time. The nine scheduled cruises will take CAPE HATTERAS to the eastern and western Caribbean Sea, the Sargasso Sea, the Maryland and Delaware shelf, and the Carolina shelf and slope.

• The chief scientists on the cruises hail from the

Brookhaven National Laboratory, University of Maryland, Duke University, Rice University, University of South Florida, University of Miami, University of North Carolina, and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

One encouraging development this year is the variety of agencies using CAPE HATTERAS, that is owned by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by the Duke/University of North Carolina Oceanographic Consor­tium (DUNCOC). For the past two years, the only agencies funding use of the vessel were NSF and DUNCOC. This year, in addition to NSF and DUNCOC, we can add the initials of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to the list of users.

A Progress Report on Annual Giving Letters outlining Duke University Marine Laboratory's

Annual Fund Drive for the 1987-88 fiscal year were sent out in September 1987. This fifth annual drive will ter­minate June 30, 1988. The goal for the current Annual Fund Drive, set by Duke University, is $72,000, 17 per­cent more than the $61,492 raised last year.

We are pleased to report that as of February 13, 1988, $49,745, or 69 percent of the university's goal, has been received. We thank all who have contributed and urge all alumni and friends of DUML who have not contributed to DUML Annual Giving to do so.

The University Administration continues to examine our expenditures with a critical eye. The show of support from alumni and friends, therefore, is more than a tangi­ble asset to our operation.

This year is also a special year in the Marine Lab's his­tory with our Anniversary Celebration in June 1988 re-

quiring additional funds from our regular budget and money raised through Annual Giving. We want to spruce up the campus and prepare for a suitable 50th Anniver­sary Celebration that everyone will enjoy. Hence, we hope that the current drive will surpass that of 1986-87. All monies contributed to this drive are credited to the Marine Laboratory through the Office of Gift Records at Duke.

I ask that you take the time to fill in the DUML Annu­al Giving pledge card included and return it with your contribution. Thank you.

Cordially ):OUrs, C.G. Bookhout Professor Emeritus in Zoology 1987-88 Annual Fund Chairmam

·------------------------------------------------------------· DUKE UNIVERSITY 2127 Campus Drive

Durham, NC 27706

Friends of the Marine laboratory Telephone (919) 684-4419

ANNUAL FUND MY PERSONAL GIFf THIS YEAR WILL BE$, _______ _

ENCLOSED$. ____ __, BY JUNE 30 $, ___ _

My company, _________ _,will match this gift in the amount of$'----~ Form enclosed.

Signature-----------------­

Class Year Name __________________ _

Address Street or P.O. Box Number

City State Zip

Thank You - Please make checks payable to Duke University.

D Please credit$ ___ of this gift in

memory of

class of-----

D I have included Duke in my will.

D Please send additional information on your Bequests and Trusts Program.

12

GIFT DESIGNATION Please select the designation

for your gift: Marine Lab

Annual Fund or one of the

scholarships.

D MARINE LABORATORY ANNUAL FUND $ ____________ _

D BOOKHOUT SCHOLARSHIP

$

D STEER SCHOLARSHIP

$

D RACHEL CARSON FELLOWSHIP

$

From the Boathouse Dr. John Costlow

In reflecting on my 37 years at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, initiated one dark night in early September 1951, thoughts on changes involving people, teaching and research programs, and physical facilities are presumably quite natural. In retrospect, it is doubtful that there could have been a better environment to prepare me for the role of teacher, researcher, and administrator. Sharing the laboratory with the maintenance supervisor as my only companion for the major portion of the year pro­vided virtually unlimited opportunities for research and observation, developed capacity for self discipline, and, with the approach of summer and the influx of staff from Durham and students from all over the United States, created a cycle of change and opportunities to meet new people and new ideas. AB new research facilities and dor­mitories were added, as the dining hall was expanded to accommodate increased numbers of participants, and as the demand for year round facilities increased, it was ap­parent that the realm of marine sciences was changing, not only at Beaufort but also within the United States and in many other places around the world. To accommodate and in some cases initiate these changes, curricula also began to change reflecting a greater interest in expanded research, a change which eventually led more and more to studies on cell differentiation and subcellular factors, and the whole realm of biochemical research. In essence, the early research which initially required a bucket, a shovel and a simple light microscope evolved to the point where gas-liquid chromatography, amino acid analyzers, and electron microscopes were viewed as basic tools required for significant advances. These changes were also reflected in the individuals. Visiting staff in the early days of the Laboratory were largely from Duke University. Due to the increasing visibility and prestige of the Laboratory, howev­er, more and more scientists from other institutions within the United States began to take advantage of the oppor­tunities offered by the marine environment and the phys­ical facilities at Beaufort. In still a further expansion, we

began to see scientists from halfway around the world coming to the Laboratory. They contributed not only to an expansion of our understanding of science and people but also provided opportunities for us to engage in coop­erative research with our colleagues in estuarine and ma­rine environments in other countries which were totally different from our own.

Although the primary emphasis of DUML initially may have been in the realm of basic research, spurred by Doc Pearse's interest in ecology and Bookie's interest in devel­opment, more and more attention was paid to the way this information related to society and its use of these en­vironments and the natural resources therein. Stimulated in part by Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring," many of the staff and visitors to the laboratory began to focus on understanding the environment to a far greater degree than before and actually became involved in scientific and government agencies and organizations where their in­formation could be utilized in a constructive way in the intelligent management of our coastal areas.

Throughout all of these years, however, there has al­ways been a high priority on maintaining high quality in both the teaching and the research and the sense of "camaraderie" which we will hopefully celebrate when we gather together on June 10 and 11, 1988 for our 50th Birthday. At that point, by allowing for some reflections, it is hoped that we will collectively identify the ways in which DUML can continue and contribute further in its second half century as effectively as it has in its first.

DUKE UNIVERSITY MARINE LABORATORY PIVERS ISLAND

BULK RATE U. S. Postage

PAID Beaufort, NC 28516

Permit No. 25 BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA 28516

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED