Pioneering deep-sea oceanographer J. Frederic (Fred) Grassle was selected to receive the 2011 Redfield Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his fundamental discoveries in deep sea ecology, visionary leadership of marine sciences, selfless community service, and groundbreaking technical innovations that will shape oceanography for decades to come. The nomination letters received in support of this nomination were signed, variously, by twelve of his current colleagues, four of his former students, and by individual authors. The outpouring of admiration, gratitude and authoritative description of a life dedicated to extraordinary intellectual and administrative leadership represented in these letters was a remarkable testimony to Fred’s career, his selfless service, generosity, and his profound impact on ocean sciences.

After receiving a Ph.D. from Duke University in 1967, Fred’s ~ 50 year career includes periods of time at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, the University of Queensland, Duke University, Yale University, and Rutgers University. He founded the Institute of Marine and Coastal Science (IMCS) and grew it from small beginnings to a facility with over 50 internationally recognized faculty and technical staff in nineteen research areas and a top-ranked marine science graduate program.

In the early 1990s, working from the Rutgers lab, Fred and Chris Von Alt initiated a coastal observing system utilizing a buried electro-optical cable that provided electricity from the New Jersey shore to a 15-m deep sensor suite on the shelf; this system transmitted data to shore in real time, and was coupled to AUV’s and satellites. This Long-term Ecosystem Observatory (LEO) has grown into a premier shelf-wide observing network that pioneered the use of AUV’s, gliders, HF-Radar, and numerical models. LEO now spans from Massachusetts to North Carolina and forms the foundation for NOAA’s Mid-Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System. As one nominating letter remarks, “There is no question… that the path of next generation Ocean Science turned a corner as a result of the decisions made at Rutgers over the past 15 years. And Fred was catalyst, leader, and participant in that seminal process.”

Fred Grassle’s impact on basic knowledge and understanding about the ocean, particularly the deep-sea benthos, has been no less transformative. He has published papers on marine benthic ecology, diversity, and life histories, as well as articles on biological indicators of pollution, mesocosm experiments, and invertebrate ecology and biology. He demanded rigorous statistical and experimental approaches to the study of deep sea ecology in an era when access to the deep-sea was limited to hours every few years. Early contributions on the extent and maintenance of diversity in the deep sea, included NESS (Normalized Expected Species Shared), a refined similarity measure, and many papers exploring the merits of different diversity indices for analysis of deep-sea data. He developed the patch mosaic model, which emphasizes the importance of ephemeral patches as a mechanism for explaining the high diversity in the deep sea and elsewhere. Grassle’s landmark 1992 paper with long-time colleague, Nancy Maciolek, (American Naturalist; 139:313-341) provided evidence that diversity in the deep sea rivals that of tropical rain forests, with an estimate of 107 still undescribed species of invertebrates in deep-sea sediments.

A pioneer in the use of the submersible Alvin for deep-sea research, Grassle led the first biological expedition to the deepsea vent communities discovered in 1977. Cindy Van Dover, a former student of Fred’s and Director of the Duke Marine Lab writes, “(He) turned the business of deep-sea science away from the meree collection of anecdoes and toward a the development of substantive treatments in ecology.” Less well-known, at least to some, are Fred’s activities in the application of science to societal problems. For several years, Fred conducted research on the fate of sewage sludge disposal off the New Jersey coast, challenging the prevailing wisdom that such disposal wold not have any impact on the deep-sea benthos. Papers from Grassle’s studies showed that the sludge did, indeed, reach the sea bed, where it was consumed by a variety of organisms, thus entering the food chain.

The capacity to bring vision to fruition in major national or international programs is a hallmark of Grassle’s career. He was the lead architect and founding Chair of the Steering Committee for the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year global research program that engaged thousands of scientists from over 80 countries in the study of biodiversity patterns and evolutionary relationships. The Census has already produced thousands of papers and “elevated marine biodiversity ot a level of interest and support that only Fred could have dreamed of.”

The Census of Marine Life highlighted problems and fragmentation in methods of data collection and reporting that were truly monumental in the days when the Internet and massive global search engines were in natal stages. With typical vision, Fred recognized the need for an online, constantly evolving database and GIS system for global marine species distribution data.

This simple idea became the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) . Under Fred’s leadership, OBIS was structured to ensure that free and open data sharing at an international level became a new standard in ocean science. OBIS () is now the largest provider of marine data in the world, with 14 regional nodes serving >16 million data records from over 400 data sets.

Despite the demands of research and global leadership, Fred Grassle has been a dedicated mentor to young scientists, a person who can (and does) explain science to all comers, and one who is known not just for his brilliance, but for his kindness and generosity. It is clear from the nominating materials that he is loved and admired by those who have worked with him, and the Society is honored to recognize him with the 2011 Redfield Lifetime Achievement Award.