Welcome!


Have you thanked a green plant today?




David Moore Ph.D.

Coordinator of Biology
Room 195/199 Gordon Science Center
792-3137
dmoore@utica.edu


1. Brief autobiographical statement



Although born in Ohio, my parents moved our family of seven kids to western Pennsylvania where I grew up on a dairy farm. That rural environment nurtured an avid interest in natural history, and plants in particular. Undergraduate years were spent at Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, Massachusetts where I earned a B.S. in Music in Voice and Music Education and a B.A. in Biology. I returned to Ohio for graduate school and completed an M.S. in Botany at The Ohio State University under Dr. Ronald L. Stuckey, studying the aquatic plants of East Harbor State Park on the shores of Lake Erie. This research documented the changes in the aquatic plant community occurring during the previous 79 years. After a summer as a Traveling Scholar at The University of Michigan?s Douglas Lake Biological Station, I began a Ph.D. in Phycology (Algae) at OSU under Dr. Clarence Taft, my teaching mentor, examining the distribution of algae as they correlated with patterns of glaciation and soil types within Ohio. After completing the Ph.D. in 1976, I began teaching at Utica College in fall, 1976.


2. Research interests and research in progress


When I came to Utica College I continued with research of algal distribution especially associated with limestone seeps, examining the limestone and shale seeps of Trenton Falls Gorge, Trenton, NY. I returned to The Ohio State University=s Franz Theodore Stone Laboratory at Put-in-Bay, Ohio to continue research on the aquatic plant communities and teach a graduate course in aquatic plant biology during the summer, 1986. Since 1993, I have continued my teaching and research at Put-in-Bay, Ohio. My initial research examined the interactions between Zebra Mussels and submersed aquatic plants, specifically the recruitment of Zebra Mussel velligers (juveniles) onto plant surfaces and the filtering effect of submersed aquatic beds. Since the Zebra Mussel?s introduction to western Lake Erie in 1988, their proficient removal of plankton and other particulate has permitted greater light availability in the water column. This coupled with long term reduction in phosphorous loading are two of the most important factors effecting long term changes in the submersed aquatic plant communities in that area. I continue to monitor those long term changes and am currently examining fossil pollen in sediment cores from Put-in-Bay Harbor. I am proud to have been awarded the Stone Laboratory Outstanding Visiting Professor in 1993, 1999, and 2001. In addition, I have been researching the botanical explorations and early botanists of central New York. In 1998 I was honored to receive the Utica College Thomas H. Clark Award for Research.


3. Most recent research publications




Moore, David L. 2002. Wildflowers. Encyclopedia of New York State. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, N.Y.

Moore, David L. 1999. A century's perspective of changes in the aquatic macrophyte flora of western Lake Erie: what's next? Proceedings of the Lake Erie at the Millennium -
Changes, Trends, and Trajectories a Binational Conference. University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Moore, David L. 1998. Interspecific competition between Myriophyllum exalbescens Fern, Myriophyllum spicatum L, and Vallisneria americana Michx. At Put-in-Bay, Ohio: a morphoecological perspective. Proceedings of the Eighth International Aquatic Nuisance Species Conference. Sacramento, Ca.


4. Student Research



Plant Biology offers opportunities for research at the undergraduate level and provides an avenue for projects combining other academic areas such as chemistry, environmental science, and molecular biology. A current project involving Samantha Peabody, a student at Utica College, is a joint research effort between the Upper Mohawk Valley Regional Board, Environmental Engineering and Technology, Inc., Baker?s Greenhouses, and Utica College, funded by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. We are investigating the beneficial use of water treatment plant residuals in greenhouse production.