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Dr. Steven Miller I grew up in Minnesota - Land of 10,000 Lakes - and so learned to swim, boat, and fish when I was quite young. I still remember the first bass I caught in Lake Calhoun, when I ran all the way home to show off my catch. Those early days helped shape my interest and love of the water. I went away for college, and earned a B.A. in Biology from Brown University. I learned to scuba dive between my junior and senior years in college. However, Minnesota lakes and Narragansett Bay were not all that inspirational. My interest in a marine biology career was triggered during a trip to the Virgin Islands. The warm and clear water, combined with spectacular coral reefs, motivated me to find a way to stay longer. I took classes and ultimately landed my first job in marine science at the West Indies Laboratory (WIL), located on St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In the 1970s and 1980s, WIL was one of the best places to be if you were a student interested in coral reefs, or a marine biologist studying coral reefs. Unfortunately, the lab was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and was not rebuilt. After working at WIL in the late 1970s, I went back to graduate school and received my Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. My research focuses on coral reef ecology, water quality issues, seaweeds, and long-term biological and oceanographic studies in the Florida Keys. I'm recently back from a research cruise to the Dry Tortugas, where our rapid assessment team worked to evaluate the condition of coral reef habitats: we also established long-term monitoring sites. After two years of work in the Dry Tortugas we have 60 sites in our program. The rapid assessment team is the same group participating in this Aquarius mission. Rapid assessment is all about getting data efficiently and quickly, to maximize time in the field and to produce reports in a timely manner. Thus, we use pencils and slates as our "technical tools." The rest is done with eyes and brains. I've provided a list of recent publications below to highlight some of my recent work in other areas. I've also provided a link to more information about our rapid assessment program in the Florida Keys. In addition to science, I have administrative responsibilities related to directing NOAA's National Undersea Research Center at UNCW. This includes the Aquarius underwater laboratory, and links are provided that highlight the Center and Aquarius. My educational and outreach efforts include development of the Aquarius web site, frequent presentations to the public, and writing to help explain what scientists do - and why it's important (I'm working on a kids book about Aquarius with Dr. Ellen Prager.). I'm currently finishing up my second term as Recording Secretary for the International Society for Reef Studies. In 1997 I was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I'm fortunate to live and work in Key Largo, Florida, with my wife Tonia Sledd and our two children, Jonathan and Andrew. When I'm not at work you might find me at the tennis court, if my knees aren't too sore. This is my third saturation mission. My first mission was in Hydrolab
and my last was in 1989 in Aquarius. It's been a long time between missions
and I look forward to living again with the fish.
Recent publications: Leichter, J.J. and S.L. Miller. 1999. Predicting high frequency upwelling: Spatial and temporal patterns of temperature anomalies on a Florida coral reef. Continental Shelf Research: 19:911-928. Hughes, T., A.M Szmant, R. Steneck, R.C. Carpenter, and S.L. Miller. 1999. Algal blooms on coral reefs: What are the causes? Critique of: Nutrient thresholds for eutrophication and macroalgal overgrowth of coral reefs in Jamaica and southeast Florida. In press, Limnology and Oceanography. Richardson, L.L., W.M. Goldburg, K.G. Kuda, R.B. Aronson, G.W. Smith, K.B. Richie, J.C. Halas, J.S. Feingold, and S.L. Miller. 1998. Florida's mystery coral-killer identified. Nature. Vol. 392(6676):557-558. Miller, S.L. and M.P. Crosby. 1998. The extent and condition of U.S. coral reefs. In: NOAA's State of the Coast Report. NOAA. Silver Spring, MD. pp 1-34. (URL: http://state_of_the_coast.noaa.gov/bulletins/html/crf_08/crf.html) |
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