Acclaimed seagrass ecologist Dr. Susan Williams will be featured as the 14th Annual Wiese Distinguished Lecturer at the University of South Alabama’s Marine Sciences Department and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.  The public is invited to attend her talk “Now You See Them, Now You Don’t: Coastal Marine Ecosystems” on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 7:00pm in the John Counts Room at the Mitchell Center, University of South Alabama (USA).

Dr. Williams is Professor of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, at Davis and Director of the Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML).  As the first Science Director for the Caribbean component of NOAA’s National Undersea Research Program, Dr. Williams became an aquanaut, conducting research from an undersea habitat.  She also developed and directs BML’s National Science Foundation – supported Research-Experiences-for-Undergraduates Program and its Graduate-K-12 Program. 

Her research focuses on coastal communities, particularly seagrass meadows, seaweed forests, and coral reefs, and how they are affected by human activities.  Dr. Williams’ research on the ecology and management of marine invasive species has prompted her appointment to many esteemed scientific boards, fellowship awards, and invitations to brief governments.  She is President-Elect of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation.

Dr. Bob Shipp, Chair of the Department of Marine Sciences at USA, states, "Dr. Williams continues the valued tradition of bringing distinguished lecturers to enrich the scientific life of our campus and Sea Lab. Her renowned expertise in submerged aquatic vegetation research is both timely and of intense interest to our area, and I encourage the public to attend what promises to be a fascinating lecture of local and worldwide importance."

The Wiese Lecture Series is endowed by a generous gift from the late Peter Wiese and his wife, Marty Wiese of Fairhope, Alabama.  Each year the series brings a preeminent scientist to the University of South Alabama and the Dauphin island Sea Lab, who interacts with students and faculty and presents a lecture for the public on a topic of general interest to marine science.