History

The GCRL Botany program was formed in 1968 when Dr. Lionel Eleuterius was hired as the lab's first botanist by the Director Dr. Gordon Gunter. Lionel worked at GCRL until his retirement in May 1993.

Following Lionel's retirement, Dr. Cindy Moncreiff led the marine botany program between 1994-2004.

After Dr Cindy's departure, the plant ecology program was directed by Dr. Patrick Biber from Nov 2004 until the present. He established the Center for Plant Restoration and Coastal Plant Research (CPR) in 2010.

The GCRL Botany program and CPR are active in three main areas:

1. Marine seagrasses and mapping of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the coastal waters of Mississippi and the northern Gulf of Mexico.

2. Saltmarsh vegetation ecology and propagation for coastal habitat restoration.

3. Observations and sampling of estuarine phytoplankton for detecting Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB)