John Hobbie Named Distinguished Scientist
The MBL has named Dr. John E. Hobbie a Distinguished Scientist for his outstanding achievements and service to the Laboratory. John is co-director of the MBL’s Ecosystems Center. He joined the MBL in 1976.
Distinguished Scientist is a special recognition that is bestowed on an MBL scientist with outstanding scientific achievements and service to the scientific community. Only one other MBL scientist, Shinya Inoué, currently holds this designation.
As an aquatic ecologist, John’s research has attempted to identify the factors controlling decompostition and productivity within aquatic ecosystems. His current research interests center on the role of microbes in freshwater, estuarine, and soil ecosystems. Field sites for this work are located at the Plum Island estuary on Massachusetts’ North Shore and the Toolik Lake Field Station on the North Slope of Alaska. Both are part of the National Science Foundation’s 26 sites across North America and Antarctica designated as Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Programs. John helped establish the Arctic LTER site and is the director of the Arctic LTER project, which focuses on the ecology of tundra, streams, and lakes at Toolik Lake.
A long-time Falmouth resident, John lives with his wife Olivann, a teacher at Falmouth Academy. Together they have three sons: Lawrence, an associate professor of biology at Aldelphi University on Long Island; Erik, a research assistant professor of terrestrial ecology at the University of New Hampshire; and David, an attorney in Boston. John is the proud grandparent to four granddaughters and one grandson. In his spare time, he enjoys playing the cello, gardening, running, skiing and sailing. |
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A Sucker for Squidding
The Henry W. Klimm, Jr. Pier off of Waterfront Park just isn’t the same this summer. “For the first time in a long while, MBL master squid collector Henry Klimm, Jr. and his boat Loligo aren’t operating,” says Scott Lindell, Marine Resources manager. Henry’s 90th birthday is in August.
Over the years, Henry has collected over 800,000 live squid (Loligo pealeii) for MBL scientists, even a few Nobel Laureates. Each year, neurobiologists travel great distances to study the squid’s long nerve fibers, called giant axons, and learn about the workings of nerve cells.
To serve the scientists better, MBL general manager Homer Smith hired Henry in 1959 to determine whether the delicate squid could be collected by means other than the damaging weir trap. Henry has been collecting these important research organisms for the MBL ever since.
In the late 1980s, he made a special offshore trip for the MBL and proved that squid could be collected in these deep waters and brought back alive. The effort enabled the MBL to extend the squid collecting season to September.
In 2001, the MBL honored Henry for his contributions by naming the pier he has tied up to since 1960 after him, and unveiling the pier’s well known “squid gate” commissioned by former MBL Trustee John Lakian and his wife Andrea and designed by Falmouth landscape architect Stephen Stimson.
It seems Henry was destined to spend his life on the water. He was born on a houseboat in Hyannis Harbor, the son of a commercial fisherman, lobsterman, and boatyard owner. Over the course of his career, he operated several fishing boats, in addition to his most recent boat, the Loligo.
Henry’s colleagues in the Marine Resources Center feel it is especially important to thank Henry for all of his work for the MBL in an issue of The New Collecting Net. “If ever there was somebody who operated a ‘collecting net,’ it’s Henry,” says Lindell.
We miss you this summer, Henry, and we wish you a happy birthday. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to you for your many years of service and contributions to neuroscience at the MBL.
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