February, 2000 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 18, No.10 
To register your interest in attending this 
meeting please reply, giving your name, 
address, phone/fax and e-mail, to the following 
address as soon as possible: 
By Post to: ISO2001 
Department of Biology and Geosciences 
Shizuoka University, Oya 836, Shizuoka 422- 
8529,Japan 
Fax: (81) 54 238 0491 [81 is the Japan 
country code] 
E-mail: iso2001 @se-geomail.sci.shizuoka.ac.jp 
HISTORY IN THE TELLING 
Over the past 2+ years SCAMIT Newsletter 
readers have been treated to a very personal 
commentary on the life and professional 
experiences of Dr. Donald J. Reish. As he was 
(and is) mentor, major professor, and advisor to 
many SCAMIT members, this history is of 
special interest. As it covers the period of the 
development and blossoming of environmental 
consciousness in the U. S., and the changes in 
public policy, research and funding priorities, 
and work opportunities for marine biologists 
which resulted, it is also of general interest. 
The first installment came our way in October 
1997 in NL 16(6), and the following one in 
October 1999 in NL 18(6). The series resumes 
below. 
My Life as A Biologist 
By Dr. Donald J. Reish 
Chapter 17: Research Grants and Major 
Contracts 
I have already written about my first research 
grant from the U.S. Public Health Service 
studying the relationship between polychaetes 
and pollution. This grant had a significant 
influence on my professional life. I have no 
idea of how many publications, invited 
presentations both domestic and foreign, and 
consulting jobs resulted from my 5 year study 
at SC. 
Just before joining the faculty at CSULB, the 
City of Long Beach began to develop the 
Alamitos Bay Marina by dredging. 
[Interestingly, if the City had attempted to start 
this development today, it would not have 
come to pass since they dredged wetlands.] I 
saw this development as a golden opportunity 
to study succession in the subtidal environment 
as well as on jetties and boat floats. I 
submitted a proposal to NSF my first semester 
at CSULB which was funded (3 years, $21,000 
total). A1 Stone, my first graduate student, 
helped me on this project plus some 
undergraduate students. I also included Marina 
del Rey, and the two marinas in Ventura 
County. I found that there was really no 
succession in the subtidal environment. 
Settlement dependent upon what animals were 
reproducing at the time of dredging [in some 
instances, we sampled 2 weeks after the area 
was dredged]. There was a slight indication of 
succession on boat floats; however, again it 
depended on what organisms were reproducing 
at the time. Certainly, it was not the elaborate 
succession scheme that Scheer has published 
for Newport Bay. I was visiting Ventura City 
Marina and I met the contractor and he asked 
me what to do about the extensive bloom of 
algae [Ulva and Enteromorpha ]. I said 
nothing; it will be gone in 2 months. I saw him 
2 months later and the green algae was gone. 
He said he thought that I had been crazy to 
suggest nothing! Many publications resulted 
from this three year study plus consulting jobs 
at Ventura City Marina and Marina del Rey. 
The next grant was from NIH to study the 
effect of environmental variables on 
polychaetes used as indicators of pollution. 
This was the study that resulted in my 
purchasing 1000 Erlenmeyer flasks. Jack 
Anderson and Tom Richards plus some 
undergraduate students helped me on this 3 
year study ($35,000). The technique of 
controlling the dissolved oxygen in the flask 
was the key to this research. I had gotten the 
idea from Bill Hildemann from SC days 
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