Biographical Sketch

LARRY THOMAS SPENCER

EDUCATION

• M.L.S, University of California, Berkeley, California, 1975
• Colorado Ph.D. Zoology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, 1968
• M.S. Zoology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, 1965
• B. S. Zoology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 1963

EXPERIENCE

• PSU First Semester Abroad Program, Course Professor, University of Limerick, Ireland, 09/2009 to 12/2010
• Professor Emeritus of Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Plymouth State University, 05/2003 to present time
• Sabbatical leave, Lincoln University, Christchurch, New Zealand, 01/2003 - 05/2003
• Sabbatical Leave, University of Colorado, Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research, Boulder, Colorado, 9/97 - 8/98
• Chair, Natural Science Department 7/92 - 7/97
• Sabbatical Leave, Independent Research, Suzhou, China 9/89 - 8/90
• Technical Consultant, AT&T Information Systems, Denver, Colorado 7/84 - 7/85
• Visiting Professor, University of Hawaii 8/81 - 8/82
• Professor of Biology, PSC 9/78 - present
• Sabbatical Leave, University of California, Berkeley 9/74 - 6/75
• Instructor/Associate Professor of Biology, PSC 9/67 - 8/78

Teaching Areas/Interests

General Biology, Invertebrate Biology, Vertebrate Biology, Comparative animal physiology, Evolution, Marine Biology, History of Science, Introduction to Oceanography, Historical Geology, Remote Sensing and GIS,

Research Areas/Interests

• Aquatic Ecology (both fresh water and marine)
• Invertebrate ecology
• Applications of computers in science and science education
• Evolution, Darwin and Darwinism: Impacts
• 19th Century American Science
• History of Exploration, particularly the American West
• Landscape Ecology
• Tree Ring Analysis

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Society for Limnology and Oceanography
• Ecological Society of America
• History of Science Society
• International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology
• National Association of Geology Teachers
• National Association of Science Teachers
• New England Estuarine Research Society
• North American Benthological Society
• Pacific Circle
• Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society
• Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology

PUBLICATIONS

• 1986. Naturalists and natural history institutions of the American West: A preview. American Zoologist 26(2): 295-298.
• 1986. Naturalists of the Pacific shore: Early explorer/naturalists of California. American Zoologist 26(2): 321-330.
• 1986. Filling in the gaps: A survey of the 19th century institutions associated with the exploration and natural history of the American West. American Zoologist 26(2): 371-380.
• 2002. Four men and an Albatross: The Growth of America Oceanography, 1882-1921. in: Oceanographic History: The Pacific and Beyond. Edited by Keith R. Benson and Philip F. Rehbock., p. 288-297. Seattle: University of Washington Press. (Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on the History of Oceanography, San Diego).
• Also many book reviews in Choice, the American Zoologist, Environmental History, and Ecology.

Community Contributions

· Holderness, NH: Chair and Member of the town conservation commission

· Holderness, NH: Member of the town energy committee

· State of NH: NH Association of Conservation Commissions representative on the NH River Management Advisory Council

List of Scientists with which I have had a long-term Association

• Edward B. Reed (CSU thesis advisor-deceased)
• Alan Davis (PSU colleague--retired)
• Christopher Chabot (PSU colleague)
• Robert Parsons (Professional colleague)
• Len Reitsma (PSU colleague)