Dr. Robert Vadas
Professor of Botany, Oceanography and Zoology
School of Biology and Ecology and School of Marine Sciences

Bob joined the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at the University of Maine as an Assistant Professor in February 1967 (just over 42 years ago!). His multifaceted expertise in marine ecology and phycology quickly lead to a joint appointment in Botany & Plant Pathology and the Department of Oceanography with a cooperating appointment in Zoology within three years!

Bob’s numerous grants, journal publications, book chapters and monographs attest to his wonderfully productive research career -- a career that brought him to many corners of the globe, from Maine to the Maritimes to the Virgin Islands to Norway and Australia – most of which he experienced from underwater. Bob taught courses in Plant Ecology, Biology of Marine Algae, Ecology, and Marine Benthic Ecology, but it is his Field Marine Ecology course, for which his students will most remember him, as he scrambled throughout the intertidal zone, sharing his passion for and vast knowledge of Ascophyllum, Glycera, and Strongylocentrotus.

Bob’s field study and particularly his winter dives along the Maine coast for sampling are legendary among his graduate students and colleagues. One previous student noted: “From Bob, I learned the importance of fieldwork, how to read nature and why, when your toes get cold in the intertidal zone in January, it is not a good sign when they stop hurting. Nevertheless, the lasting gifts Bob gave me include an enthusiasm for teaching and research, a curiosity to keep asking questions and to keep “looking hard” at the natural world. My goal is to pass these gifts on to future generations.” Another colleague described Bob’s excitement at receiving a sample of “green slime” (a large bloom of green macroalgae) collected along the muddy shores of Cobscook Bay:
Within several days, "he had hired an airplane and took rolls of both regular and infrared slides of the intertidal of Cobscook Bay.  That quest to learn, that excitement to understand -- is Bob’s trademark", and, "this has rubbed off on me, and is what I attempt to instill in my students."

Bob, your colleagues and students thank you for all your support and contributions over the years! We wish you the best in your continued research on food preferences of cold water prey species…(though some of your colleagues request that you leave a few fish for the novices to catch!)

Thank you and Congratulations on your retirement from the University of Maine!