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MarineBio's mission is to share the wonders of the ocean to inspire education, research and a sea ethic. Our goals are to: |
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Share the wonders of the underwater world and raise awareness of marine conservation issues with all who have access to the Internet. |
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Provide an online library of scientifically accurate information on the most endangered and the most common marine species. |
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Provide an online introductory education in marine life science along with extensive information on marine conservation. We believe that science must be linked with conservation to ensure sustainable seas. |
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Provide forums for marine scientists, conservation organizations and others with an interest in marine conservation to share information and communicate on issues of importance. |
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Provide a research tool for marine life scientists to find useful resources with information on current research, news, and trends and to highlight the impact of the work they are doing in the marine life sciences. |
 "We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creature through the glass of his knowledge and sees thereby a feather magnified and the whole image in distortion. We patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth." - Henry Beston, 1928
Since 1998, MarineBio has been a nonprofit volunteer marine conservation and science education group working together to educate the world about ocean life, marine biology, marine conservation, and a sea ethic.
David Campbell, P.G. - President/Founder :: Houston, Texas USA [Google Earth]
++1 (713) 248-2576 :: Email: David@marinebio.org
David is a graduate of Texas A&M ('93), a licensed Professional Geoscientist, and a Senior Project Environmental Geologist and Project Manager for a large international environmental consulting company. David grew up reading and watching Jacques-Yves Cousteau and National Geographic's books/films while traveling to more than 21 countries before he was age 14. David has been studying animals and the planet we all share as long as he can remember. He is a big fan of Animal Planet (Jeff Corwin, Steve Irwin, etc.) and the BBC Blue Planet and Planet Earth series.
David handles many of the day-to-day operations of MarineBio, working as the President, lead designer/developer and manager of the various editors, writers, photographers and interns/volunteers involved with MarineBio. He also enjoys planning expeditions and is the lead forum administrator at the Plankton Forums. David is also planning to work toward an MS/PhD in Geology and Marine Conservation Biology when he can find the time...
 "Every creature occupying this terrain has earned a place at the great table of life, and each species is unique, with its own story to tell." - Jeff Corwin, Living on the Edge, p.86, 2003
An avid scuba diver since 1981 and underwater photographer/videographer, he dives frequently and is certified with PADI as an Advanced Open Water diver with additional experience/training in Enriched Air (Nitrox), Wrecks, Night Diving, Rescue and Deep Diving. To date, he has dove in Australia, Bonaire, Fiji, Galapagos, Honduras, Indonesia, Malaysia, Red Sea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and of course, the USA (California, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico). See MarineBio Expeditions for more information.
Joni Lawrence - Vice President/Editor :: Atlanta, Georgia USA
++1 (770) 262-7653 :: Email: Joni@marinebio.org
 As MarineBio's Editor, Joni welcomes your feedback on site content and comments and suggestions for the quarterly newsletter. Joni is a writer/editor who's had a lifelong passion for the sea and its creatures. She currently spends her days writing about international health, but her experience working at the Carter Center on environmental issues sparked her interest in conservation. After learning to dive and reading Sylvia Earle's "Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans" she developed a serious passion for marine conservation and began working with David at MarineBio to use the power of the Web to raise awareness about the beauty of marine life and the urgent needs to protect it.
Joni writes and edits the content for the MarineBio Network and is working with David to run MarineBio as a successful nonprofit organization and implement many of the projects.
Like David, when she's not working at MarineBio, Joni loves to scuba dive and take underwater photographs for MarineBio. Although she doesn't have as many dives under her weight belt as David, Joni is also certified with PADI as an Advanced Open Water diver with additional experience/training in Enriched Air (Nitrox), Wrecks and Night Diving. To date she has dived the reefs of southeast Florida, the Keys, Bonaire, Honduras and Indonesia.
"There is a window in time, and that is now, when we could forever lose a precious ocean heritage, or, we could develop the foundation for an enduring legacy, an ocean ethic... an inspired gift from the 20th century to all who follow us." - Sylvia Earle
Dr. Martin Griffiths – Board Member :: Cambridge, UK
Email: mgriffiths@cambridge.org
Martin (aka Marteee in the Plankton Forums) is currently a commissioning life sciences editor for the Cambridge University Press (the oldest printing and publishing house in the world, since 1584). His work involves commissioning new titles and managing their publication from initial research to project development and final publication. Martin travels frequently all over the globe to promote, sell and commission new works. He earned his PhD in neurochemistry from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.
When not immersed in academic publishing, Martin enjoys SCUBA diving (PADI Rescue Diver), running, weight training and walking. He has a keen ear for music and likes to dabble in the kitchen. Martin also enjoys fishkeeping and gardening. In 2002 he traveled extensively through southeast Asia including visits to Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Fiji. Naturally, he did a lot of diving on this trip and enjoyed the underwater realms in Thailand, the Great Barrier Reef, and in the seas around Fiji.
Scott Nunez, Ph.D. – Director of Elasmobranchs :: Port Aransas, Texas
Email: nunez@utmsi.utexas.edu
 Scott is a marine biologist and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Marine Science and a Research Scientist at the Marine Science Institute (a research unit of the University of Texas at Austin). He currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in marine and molecular biology.
His research interests involve elasmobranch (sharks, skates and rays) and teleost (bony or ray-finned fishes) molecular endocrinology: "Animals respond to unexpected changes in their environment by altering their physiology and behavior in a manner that increases the probability of their survival. Steroid hormones called glucocorticoids (GC) are an integral part of this response to stress. In addition to this important function, GC are critical to normal physiological homeostasis and impinge on almost every physiological system, including osmoregulation, reproduction, the immune response, and energy metabolism. Because of their far-ranging and powerful effects, GC must be carefully regulated. My research interests concern how GC are synthesized and metabolized, as well as how active GC elicit their effects within target cells. I use molecular techniques to examine how GC synthesis and action is regulated in elasmobranchs. By isolating the genes which encode steroidogenic enzymes, I can determine what factors are responsible for the expression of these genes. Similarly, the role of GC within a particular elasmobranch tissue can be determined by isolating the genes that are regulated by these hormones. These investigations will lead to a better understanding of the physiological roles of GC in elasmobranchs in particular and to the evolution of GC action in general. Such studies may have a role in conservation as well. Many elasmobranch species are quite robust and adapt well to captivity. Other species, including the nearly endangered great white shark, are quite fragile and typically do not survive the trauma of captivity. Comparative studies between stress-resistant and stress-sensitive species may reveal differences in GC physiology. Such differences could be used to develop capture techniques that minimize stress in sensitive species, and perhaps help rescue endangered elasmobranch species."
Scott's Selected Publications »
Erich Hoyt – Director of Marine Mammals :: North Berwick, Scotland
Email: erich.hoyt@mac.com
Erich has worked for the conservation of whales and dolphins and marine protected areas (MPAs) in more than 40 countries over the past 30 years. Senior Research Fellow with WDCS, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Erich also directs the Far East Russia Orca Project (FEROP), which is doing pioneer research with Killer whales in Kamchatka. In 2001, the project won the prestigious German Klüh Prize for Innovation in Science.
Erich was recently appointed to the Cetacean Specialist Group of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. His current work focuses on identifying cetacean critical habitat and establishing MPAs in the Mediterranean and Black seas for the ACCOBAMS Scientific Committee.
 Erich has written 15 books (11 for adults, 4 for kids) translated into 20 languages. He often presents lectures about marine ecotourism, MPAs and cetaceans, and has written scientific papers for journals, articles for National Geographic and the Sunday Times, and the odd film script. His books have won many awards; he has twice been named a James Thurber Writer-in-Residence, and was Vannevar Bush Fellow at MIT in 1985-86.
A Canadian-American, Erich has lived in North Berwick, outside Edinburgh, since 1990, with his wife and four children. For more information on Erich's work, visit www.erichhoyt.com.
Dr. James B. Wood – Director of Cephalopods :: St. George's, Bermuda
James is a marine biologist stationed at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research in St. George’s, Bermuda. James has made a career out of his passion for discovery and sharing marine science with the public through teaching, online outreach projects and magazine articles. He is the author of numerous scientific and popular publications and was the first person to observe mating, hatching and rear any species of deep-sea octopus in the lab.
Web sites that Dr. Wood has been involved with include: The Cephalopod Page, CephBase, Cephalopod lesson plans, Census of Marine Life's, OBIS
Some of James' collaborative work on communication in Caribbean Reef Squid can be seen on the HDTV Discovery Channel special “Tentacles.” His deep-sea octopuses are featured on the Discovery Channel special “The Ultimate Guide: Octopus.”
James is an avid diver (PADI 1989, AAUS science diver 2003), sailor (lives aboard a 41-foot sloop), and underwater photographer.
Dr. Wood's (on left) fall 2005 Marine Invertebrate Class with Dr. Sylvia Earle (center)
Marine Biology is the scientific study of animals, plants and other organisms that live in or near the ocean and other saltwater environments such as estuaries and wetlands. We study marine life to understand and preserve the world we live in.
Approximately 71% of the surface of our ocean planet is covered by salt water. The average ocean depth is 3.8 km with a volume equal to a mile square column of ocean water over 300 million miles high. That's equivalent to 1,376 times the distance to the moon, 3.5 times the distance to the Sun, and 2.3 times the distance to Mars. Life exists throughout this immense volume. The ocean constitutes the single largest (>90%) repository of organisms on the planet consisting of members from virtually all phyla—a tremendous diversity of life—life that is also critical to the well-being of humankind.
The ocean gives us life. It gives us oxygen, rain, food, excitement, wonder and mystery. The ocean can be simultaneously peaceful, beautiful, calm or incredibly powerful and violent. The ocean buffers our weather and helps regulate global temperature. It manages vast amounts of our pollutants. The biodiversity of the ocean supports all life on our planet. Humans and the ocean are inextricably linked. Yet the ocean is just beginning to be understood. As our understanding of this vast and powerful force of nature increases we realize that in spite of its seeming invulnerability—the ocean and marine life are in real trouble. Marine conservation efforts are vastly outnumbered by the problems facing the ocean. Government policies worldwide to protect our marine resources are severely lacking.
Our lack of knowledge about the ocean leads to apathy. So MarineBio is here to show you the wonders of the ocean and to show you the problems so that you have a better understanding of what's at stake and what needs to be done. If you're inspired by what you see here, then please take action and become a member.
We are creating an educational and research home page for every marine species (e.g., sharks & rays, fishes, squid & octopuses, reptiles, marine birds, seals & sea lions+, whales & dolphins, etc.), starting initially with the 1,300 or so most common and endangered species. MarineBio also supports the study and protection of marine life. We hope to see humankind embrace the concept of a Sea Ethic to increase the sense of urgency and commitment to protecting the oceans. Together we really CAN make a difference.
"What we must do is encourage a sea change in attitude, one that acknowledges we are a part of the living world, not apart from it." - Dr. Sylvia Earle, Marine Biologist
MarineBio believes there are solutions to every problem and that most problems can be solved by understanding, cooperation, and compromise. We believe that smart management and moderation are the keys to long-term success for any industry—be it fishing, waste management, or the aquarium trade. We strive to be non-political and unbiased and to let science dictate both the problems and the solutions. If MarineBio is biased in any way it is a pro-environment/species bias, and we plan to keep it that way as we work to uncover the truths and myths surrounding the protection of marine life on this planet.
MarineBio.org, Inc.
Main office: 1810 Elmen Street, Houston, Texas USA 77019 [Google Earth]
This site is built to work with the greatest number of browsers and utilizes as few as necessary of the modern browser technologies (Javascript, etc.) and should not cause errors or problems in older browsers.
Every page is built and thoroughly tested on Windows 98/2000/XP using the following standard-install browsers: Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera Web Browser and AOL. If you are using another browser or operating system not mentioned above and are experiencing problems please contact us.
Videos onsite require the free Flash plugin, Windows Media Player and/or DivX Web Player.
Also, though most production is conducted via Intranet, DSL and Cable connections, the pages are also tested for acceptable download speeds on 56k standard modems before launch. All internal and external links are checked and fixed at least once a month.
We hope you enjoy the site and look forward to hearing from you! Contact us anytime or become a member and help us do more!
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