Graduate Affiliation: Department of Wildlife & Fisheries Science, Texas A&M University

Education: 

B.S. - Penn State University (1970) 
M.S. - Florida State University (1973)  
Ph.D. - University of Texas Medical Branch (1977)

Speciality:

Marine Cave Biology and Diving Research. Biodiversity, ecology, biogeography and evolution of marine cave fauna; conservation biology and endangered species; technical scientific diving including cave, nitrox, rebreather and trimix diving.

Research Interests:

My primary research involves biodiversity surveys of the animals inhabiting saltwater caves. I have led research expeditions for studies of the biology of marine and freshwater caves to the Bahamas, Belize, Mexico, Jamaica, Canary Islands, Iceland, Balearic Islands, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Galapagos, Hawaii, and numerous other locations in the Indo-Pacific; in addition to 9 years of studies on Bermuda's marine caves. This research has resulted in the discovery of more than 250 new species of marine animals, mostly crustaceans, inhabiting caves on islands in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. While a number of these animals are exceptionally primitive “living fossils”, others are related to deep sea forms. Amazingly, many of these cave-limited species have close relatives inhabiting caves on opposite sides of the Earth. Much of my research involves uses of specialized diving techniques including cave diving using sidemounted tanks (to lower the diver’s profile) and closed-circuit rebreathers (to lengthen bottom times and reduce diver disturbance by exhaust bubbles). Additional information on my cave research can be found on my website at: