April, 2000 
SCAMIT Newsletter 
Vol. 18, No.12 
Larry Lovell presented an unusual specimen of 
Spiophanes fimbriata collected during 
sampling of the LA County monitoring 
program. This specimen had a total of four 
antennae emanating from the prostomium 
MY LIFE AS A BIOLOGIST 
by Donald J. Reish 
Chapter 19: The Graduate Students 
During my academic career I had 57 students 
complete their masters under my direction. 
Most of the students came up the ranks by way 
of taking invert zool. or invert systematics. 
Some came from other universities after 
completing their bachelors. Kathy King, Scott 
Carr, and Fred Piltz came from UCI; Bob 
Galbraith from UCSB; Phil Oshida and Tom 
Kauwling from UC Berkeley; Wayne Davis 
from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Ken Schiff 
from San Diego State; Dave Russell from 
Pomona; Tom Gerlinger from Ohio State; Tom 
Biksey fom Pennsylvania; Tom McDonnell and 
Terry McCoppin from Loyola-Marymount; 
Eric Gonzalez from Panama University; Joe 
Tarfaro from Louisiana State University; I 
don’t remember where Rivian Lande, Don 
Moore, Wayne Brannon, Doug Morgan, or A1 
Stone went as an undergraduate. 
What were my criteria for the selection of a 
potential graduate student? For those who did 
well in my classes, the choice was easy. I also 
considered such things as their curiosity, their 
ability to think creatively, and finally my gut 
feeling. I had 15 graduate students working 
under my direction at the same time. People 
would ask me how I handled this number of 
students. Basically, I would spend some time 
with them at the beginning and again at the end 
of their research and thesis writing. Grad 
students further along would help the 
beginners. During the time of my EPA grant 
Mike Martin worked for me full time and 
helped a lot. Joe LeMay did the same when I 
had the large Army Corps grant. While I didn’t 
spend much time with them during the 
“middle” period, I would talk with them. I 
think that a student just starting on a graduate 
program needs some attention. The slow part 
always seemed to be writing up their research. 
Some were good writers and others had to go 
through several drafts. How did we select a 
topic for their research? Partly it depended 
upon their interest and partly on my grants and 
contracts at the time. For example, there were 
several studies on the effect of reduced DO on 
an organism; we then went through a period of 
culturing polychaetes, and lastly toxicity 
studies. I think the one thing I miss most since 
retiring is the contact with the graduate 
students. I see many each year, but I have lost 
contact with others. Now for the roster 
[student, date of their Masters completion, 
thesis subject, and post-student life - with a ? if 
I lost track]: 
1. A1 Stone, 1960. Effect of rain runoff on 
Estuarine polychaetes. High school teacher, 
then manager of a flower shop 
2. Bob Galbraith, 1961. Homing in limpets. 
Crofton CC. 
3. Dr. Dean Bok, 1965. Limnoria cytology. 
Faculty at UCLA in anatomy. 
4. Dr. Jack Anderson, 1966. 3 species of 
Limnoria - temperature effects, published. 
Consulting firm. 
5. Dr. Tom Richards, 1966. Life history of 
Stauronereis , published. Faculty at Cal 
Poly SLO. 
6. Rivian Lande, 1966. Movement of 
Ophiodromus on starfish, published. 
Retired from faculty at Long Beach City 
College. 
7. Don Moore, 1967. Seasonal reproduction 
in Mytilus edulis, published. ?. 
8. Dr. Alan Mearns, 1967. Amino acids in 
Neanthes succinea , published. With 
NOAA. 
9. Joe Tarfaro, 1967. Polychaetes of Palos 
Verdes Peninsula. With New Orleans P.D. 
10. Dr. Don Perkins, 1968. Protozoa. Faculty 
at Oklahoma State. 
11. Dr. Robert Crippen. 1968. Polychaetes on 
boat floats in LA Harbor, published. 
Consulting Firm in Canada. 
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