Professor Mark Bertness (November 2004)



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Mark Bertness can see into the future: "People are going to look back at the Brown Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) 25 years from now as one of the most important things that has ever happened at Brown." Bertness, the popular professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, has taught at Brown for nearly 25 years, so he knows a big thing when it happens. This fall, the big thing is the enrollment of the first students in the Brown-MBL graduate program, a direct result of the partnership created between the University and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.

"On an individual basis," Bertness says, "we have been knocking the crap out of the ball, but it's taken us a long time to get the recognition that we deserve." The partnership with MBL, which Bertness calls a "powerhouse of scientists," will secure Brown's place among the leaders in the field. The folks in Woods Hole clearly agree, as Bertness explains. "They did an external review, and this outside reviewer told them, 'You need what you ran from, you need the enthusiasm and the creativity of having an educational layer.'" That's what Brown offers them. (Read the MBL press release.) Bertness enthuses, "This is going to be a really spectacular thing, not only for biology, but for Brown as well. It's the most exciting thing that has happened since I've been here."

Bertness studies salt marshes and rocky shores from the coast of Maine to the tip of Patagonia in South America, and his experiments produce invaluable information sought by conservationists and evolutionary biologists alike. But, when it comes to his work in South America, he has an even higher goal. "Our true objective is to empower graduate students," he affirms. He does so by bringing the Brown brand of experimental ecology to their doorstep. "Previously, the marine folks there had been doing totally descriptive research, total observational kinds of things. They just hadn't entered the experimental age," he reveals.

When first invited to South America to run a workshop for six graduate students, Bertness was surprised to find the students replicating the work that he'd produced in his own lab. "They didn't have the self-confidence that's required to be creative scientists," he explains. "I was able in just spending four hours with each one them to say back to them, "Yes, but look at this over here, this is totally unique, I've never seen anything quite like that." By shifting their focus to what is unique about their own environment, he is helping them to create thesis projects that will be published in top-notch journals. "And that will make them a commodity in their country," he adds, "and they'll get the next wave of jobs."

The affiliation with MBL, in addition to opening an important new graduate program, serves as the cornerstone to Brown's new Environmental Change Initiative. Bertness is a member of this interdisciplinary team studying global climate change. When asked how he responds to the Bush administration claim that there is no scientific proof that global warming exists, he answers bluntly. "He's an oil man, what can you say?"

And then Bertness offers hard proof. "We see signs of sea-level rise effecting salt marshes in Rhode Island already. I had been doing some monitoring of marsh borders, and we saw over a four-year period of time that the lower borders of the marsh were creeping up terrestrially at a pretty alarming rate. We were dumbfounded that we saw this much movement."

Sea-level has been rising due to natural causes for some time, but its rate has drastically and dangerously changed. "There are certainly natural cycles as well," Bertness explains, "but we've mucked with the atmosphere now enough so that this is definitely a very real thing."

So what is it about Brown that can keep a professor here for nearly a quarter-century and keep him motivated for the next one? Bertness puts it simply. "Brown is a perfect fit for me," he declares. "When I came to Brown, we didn't have a graduate program [in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology]. But the magic of having really talented undergraduates to work with, I enjoyed that from the very beginning. Brown's culture of valuing research but also valuing teaching has been perfect for me. And even now, when I have lots of opportunities to go, there's just no place I'd rather be."

Writer, Eric Beeman