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Finding Aids to Oral Histories in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 9616

Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Interviews, 2003-2004

Repository:Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C. Contact us at osiaref@si.edu.
Creator:
Title:Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Oral History Interviews
Dates:2003-2004
Quantity:37 audiotapes (Reference copies).
Collection:Record Unit 9616
Language of Materials:English
Summary:

Susan L. Jewett, Collection Manager, Division of Fishes; David G. Smith, Museum Specialist, Division of Fishes; and Inci A. Bowman, volunteer; conducted a series of oral history interviews with senior staff in the division to provide biographical information to the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. The project was coordinated by Inci A. Bowman. The interviewees were Bruce B. Collette (1934- ), National Systematics Laboratory, U.S. Department of Commerce; Susan L. Jewett (1945- ), Collection Manager; Victor Gruschka Springer (1928- ), Curator; Stanley H. Weitzman (1927- ), Curator, Marilyn Jean Sohner Weitzman (1926- ), Research Associate; and James C. Tyler (1935- ), Curator, Division of Fishes, NMNH. The interviews cover their educations, the history of the Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, the careers of these senior scientists in the department, and reminiscences of colleagues such as Carl L. Hubbs, George S. Myers, and Leonard P. Schultz. The Tyler interviews also cover his role as an administrator at the Museum of Natural History and the National Air and Space Museum.

Historical Note

The Division of Fishes in the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) was established in the 1850s to carry out research in the systematics of fishes. Throughout its history, research on the national fish collections at the Smithsonian has been conducted both by curators in the National Museum of Natural History and research staff of the Bureau of Fisheries, later the National Systematics Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, United States Department of Commerce. The interviewees were Bruce B. Collette, National Systematics Laboratory, U.S. Department of Commerce; Susan L. Jewett, Collection Manager; Victor Gruschka Springer, Curator; James C. Tyler, Curator; Stanley H. Weitzman, Curator, Marilyn Jean Sohner Weitzman, Research Associate; Jeffrey T. Williams, Collections Manager, Fishes; and George R. Zug, Curator, Division of Reptiles and Amphibians.

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Introduction

The Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA) began its Oral History Program in 1973. The purpose of the program is to supplement the written documentation of the Archives' record and manuscript collections with an Oral History Collection, focusing on the history of the Institution, research by its scholars, and contributions of its staff. Program staff conduct interviews with current and retired Smithsonian staff and others who have made significant contributions to the Institution. There are also reminiscences and interviews recorded by researchers or students on topics related to the history of the Smithsonian or the holdings of the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

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Descriptive Entry

David G. Smith, Museum Specialist, Susan L. Jewett, Collection Manager, and Inci Altug Bowman, volunteer, Division of Fishes, at the National Museum of Natural History, conducted a series of oral history interviews with senior staff in the division to provide biographical information to the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.

Bruce B. Collette (1934- ), an Adjunct Scientist, Systematics Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, Department of Commerce, received the B.S. in 1956 and the Ph.D. in 1960 from Cornell University and has spent most of his career at the National Museum of Natural History. His research specialties include the systematics, evolution, zoogeography, anatomy, and biology of marine fishes, especially Scombroidei (mackerels and tunas), Xiphioidei (bill-fishes), Beloniformes (needlefishes and halfbeaks), and Batrachoididae (toadfishes).

Susan L. Jewett (1945- ), Collections Manager, Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, received the B.S. from the University of Louisville in 1967. She joined the staff of the Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, in 1969 as a technician and advanced to Collections Manager. She was involved of the primitive coelacanths and their study in the 1990s.

Victor Gruschka Springer (1928- ), Senior Scientist Emeritus, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, received the B.A. in 1948 from Emory University, the M.S. in 1954 from the University of Miami, and the Ph.D. in 1957 from the University of Texas. His research specialties include the systematics, zoogeography, and anatomy of tropical marine fishes.

James C. Tyler (1935- ), Senior Scientist Emeritus, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, received the B.A. in 1957 from The George Washington University and the Ph.D. in 1962 from Stanford University. His research specialties include systematic ichthyology, especially Tetraodontiformes (specialized ray-finned fish) and community ecology of coral reef fishes.

Stanley H. Weitzman (1927-2017) was Curator of Fishes Emeritus, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History. He received the B.A. in 1951 and the M.A. in 1953 from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Ph.D. in 1960 from Stanford University. He joined the Division of Fishes in 1962 until his retirement in 2007. His research specialties include the systematics, anatomy and phylogeny of South American characiform or ray-finned fishes. He and spouse Marilyn J.S. Weitzman often collaborated in their work.

Marilyn Jean Sohner Weitzman (1926- ), Research Associate, Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, received the bachelor degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley in 1949. She married her childhood friend Stanley Weitzman in 1948. She began assisting Weitzman in his NMNH lab in the 1960s and by the 1970s was doing her own work on Lebiasininae or pencil fish, as well as collaborating with Weitzman.

George R. Zug (1938- ) was named Emeritus Research Zoologist after serving as Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles Emeritus, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History. He received the B.A. in 1960 from Albright College, the M.S. in 1963 from the University of Florida, and the Ph.D. in 1968 from the University of Michigan. His research specialties include the evolution and systematics of amphibians and reptiles, with emphasis on South Pacific species, and the biology and systematics of turtles.

Jeffrey T. Williams (1953-), Research Associate in the Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, received the Ph.D. in Zoology, University of Florida in 1986, the M.S. in Zoology, University of South Alabama in 1979, and B.S. in Zoology, Florida State University in 1975. His research focused on the systematics, taxonomy and zoogeography of tropical marine fishes. William came to the Smithsonian in 1983 and served as Ichthyologist and Collections Manager of Fishes until his retirement in 2020.

The Division of Fishes Interviews cover their childhood, educations, the history of the Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, the careers of these senior scientists in the department, and reminiscences of colleagues such as Carl L. Hubbs, George S. Myers, and Leonard P. Schultz. The James C. Tyler interviews also cover his role as an administrator at the Museum of Natural History and the National Air and Space Museum.

The collection contains twenty-two interview sessions, totaling approximately 46 hours of recordings and transcripts.

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Use Restriction

Restricted. Contact SIHistory@si.edu for more details.

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Preferred Citation

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 9616, , Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History, Oral History Interviews

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Container List

Interviews

Interview 1: May 27, 2003

Interviews

Interview of Stanley H. Weitzman by Susan L. Jewett, David G. Smith, and Inci Altug Bowman covers his youth, education, marriage to Marilyn Jean Sohner, and career at the Division of Fishes, National Museum of Natural History.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.
Preservation Master: 4 digital audio .wav files.
Reference Copy: 4 digital audio .mp3 files.

Interview 2: May 29, 2003

Interviews

Interview of Stanley H. Weitzman by Susan L. Jewett, David G. Smith, and Inci Altug Bowman continues his discussion of his career at the Division of Fishes, NMNH, and contributions of his wife, Marilyn J. S. Weitzman.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.
Preservation Master: 4 digital audio .wav files.
Reference Copy: 4 digital audio .mp3 files.

Interview 3: June 3, 2003

Interviews

Interview of Marilyn Jean Sohner Weitzman by Susan L. Jewett, David G. Smith, and Inci Altug Bowman discusses her youth, education, marriage to Stanley H. Weitzman, early career in landscape architecture and transition to working on fishes at the NMNH, especially pencilfish.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.
Preservation Master: 3 digital audio .wav files.
Reference Copy: 3 digital audio .mp3 files.

Interview 4: July 26, 2003

Interviews

Interview of Victor G. Springer by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman discusses his family history, youth, education, career at the NMNH and role in professional societies.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 01:51:28 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 4 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 5: February 10, 2004

Interviews

Interview of Bruce B. Collette by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman, covers his childhood in Panama, Florida and Long Island, New York; interest in collecting small animals, influence of Long Island Science Congress, high school projects, and going to Cornell University as an undergraduate, meeting Sara, his future wife, and work on darters and tunas; his major professor Ed Raney, teaching assistantship and fellow graduate students at Cornell; interest in herpetology and then ichthyology; marriage to Sara, honeymoon in Higgins Lake, Michigan, as he attends the first American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists meeting; accepting position at the National Systematics Laboratory at the Smithsonian in 1960.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 02:11:08 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 6: February 12, 2004

Interviews

Interview of Bruce B. Collette by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman discusses his sabbatical year in Sydney, Australia; various expeditions in the region, including Great Barrier Reef and Papua New Guinea; return from Australia; his immediate family, Sara and three daughters; account of early field trips and expeditions, beginning in 1952 and continuing through the early 1960s; continues with expeditions, covering a period of thirty years, such as his experiences on the French ship La Rafale, Gulf of Guinea; Anton Bruun, Chile and Peru; USSR-USA cooperative survey, Miami and Bermuda; Oregon II, French Guiana and northern Brazil; Russian vessel Vityaz, Mozambique and Madagascar; Albatross IV and Delaware II, northeastern US, and others.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 02:00:25 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 7: February 18, 2004

Interviews

Interview of Bruce B. Collette by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman focuses on teaching experiences at Northeastern University, Nahant, Massachusetts; Bermuda Biological Station, Bermuda; and Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) at the College of William and Mary, as well as influence of teaching on his research and publications, in particular textbook, Diversity of Fishes (1997), and the work of his graduate students and summer interns; the book, The Fishes of Bermuda (1999). He then reviews his work as editor of scientific journals, Fishery Bulletin, Copeia, Voprosy Ikhtiologii, and others. Relations between the National Systematics Lab (National Marine Fisheries Service) and the NMNH, including the Fish Division; and the attempt to close down the National Systematics Lab in 1981.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 02:11:27 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 8: February 19, 2004

Interviews

Interview of Bruce B. Collette by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman he reflects on the advantages of working in a museum (with a major collection of fishes), interaction with colleagues in other fields, and significant research papers, as well as mentors and influential colleagues at Cornell and the Smithsonian; his 50-year long affiliation with the ASIH, various positions he held in the organization; how the ASIH and the field of ichthyology have changed during his long career as a government scientist; ending with his personal interests, the horse farm in Virginia where he lives, and his international beer bottle collection.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 02:36:45 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 9: June 15, 2004

Interviews

Interview of Susan L. Jewett by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman begins with her early childhood in Albertson, New York; interest in biology, especially in marine life; influence of science teachers and college work at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. Discusses graduate school at Louisville and marriage to Charlie Karnella; getting the job in the Fish Division, Smithsonian Institution, as a technician; recollections of curatorial and support staff, and loan and acquisition procedures in the 1970s and 1980s; outreach activities as a Collection Manager; discovery of a Coelacanth caught in Indonesia, contact with Mark Erdmann, and trip to Indonesia to preserve the fish; trip to South Africa to attend a conference on Coelacanth and interview with Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer; professional involvement in the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH), 1945-1980s.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 02:36:45 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 10: June 17, 2004

Interviews

Interview of Susan L. Jewett by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman continues with field trips to Fundo Masaguaral Nature Reserve in Venezuela; Tambopata Reserve in Peru; coastal rivers of Bahia, and the Amazon in Brazil; and north coast of Cuba; experiences and reactions to a woman field assistant in the late 1970s; interest in dancing, and marriage to Tren Haselton. She then covers the move of the Fish Collection to the Museum Support Center, and the care of the wet specimens in jars; preservatives used, and labeling and shelving specimens. Involvement in various NMNH and Smithsonian committees (e.g. Advisory Committee on implementation of McKinsey & Co., NMNH liaison to McKinsey & Co., Committee to revise GS-1016, Search Committee for NMNH Director, and NMNH Collections Committee.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 11: June 22, 2004

Interviews

Interview of Susan L. Jewett by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman covers more on the collections in the Fish Division (osteo collection, cleared and stained specimens, fish models), story about the old Keleket X-ray machine; involvement in women’s issues and activities relating to the SI Women’s Council, establishment of the first Day Care Center, and Women in Museums Network, and closes with her retirement and plans for the future.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1 hour.

Interviews
Original Master: 1 cassette audiotape.

Interview 12: October 26, 2004

Interviews

Interview of James C. Tyler by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman begins with his early childhood and family background; first childhood memories, the death of father and burial in Arlington National Cemetery; growing up in Ottawa, Kansas, grandparents, stories of Wild West heard from great uncle; moving to Washington, DC, and memories of living near Catholic University and in Georgetown; attending school in Washington, early interests in nature, part time jobs, getting polio and recovery, and decision to go to George Washington University. He then turns to getting a job (GS-1) at the Fish Division, United States National Museum, while a junior in college; Fish Division staff, working with Giles Mead, his first expedition in the Gulf of Mexico; and decision to go to Stanford University for his Ph.D.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 13: October 28, 2004

Interviews

Interview of James C. Tyler by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman opens with first impressions of Stanford University, graduate students he knew there, Stanley H. “Stan? Weitzman and major professor George S. Myers; assistantship in the Biology Department, and the expedition to the Antarctic; work on crabeater seals, research on tetraodontiform fishes for Ph.D. dissertation and getting a job offer from the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. He discusses the staff at the Academy, working with Jim Boehlke, research at the Seychelles Islands; a National Science Foundation grant and expedition on Anton Frederick Bruun.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 14: November 2, 2004

Interviews

Interview of James C. Tyler by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman discusses expeditions and cruises organized by the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and sponsored by the benefactors of the Academy in the Caribbean, as well as collecting in the Bahamas, Haiti, Puerto Rico and Cayman Islands, participating in research in underwater habitat and the Tektite project in Virgin Islands, collaboration with C. Lavett Smith, Bruce B. Collette and Carter Gilbert. He continues with interest in study of garden eels and their habitat; organizing the expedition to Australia that located and retrieved the lost cannons of Captain James Cook; developing interest in the fossil forms of tetraodontiform fishes and making contacts with European paleontologists, Father Jacques Blot and Lorenzo Sarbini.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 15: November 3, 2004

Interviews

Interview of James C. Tyler by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman focuses on his work on Monte Bolca fossils from Verona, Italy; notes that tetraodontiform fishes became one of the few groups that have been studied both in fossil and extant forms; discusses technique of drawing lateral view of fish skeletons, using the method of stipple; then turns to social life at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and developing alcohol dependency; his departure from Philadelphia for Bimini, Bahamas, to become director of Lerner Marine Laboratory in 1972. Provides recollections of Henry Weed Fowler and his work at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia; addresses losing position in Bimini and applying for jobs; being appointed Endangered Species Research Coordinator, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Washington, DC, and work on sea turtles. He then discusses his move to Miami to head the NMFS Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Program and attends the ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) meetings in Madrid; as well as completes his book on the osteology, phylogeny and classification of Tetraodontiformes fishes in 1980.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 16: November 9, 2004

Interviews

Interview of James C. Tyler by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman covers his new job with the National Science Foundation as Director of the Biological Research Resources (BRR) Program in 1980, the difference between work environment and attitudes at the NMFS and NSF; his role managing the NSF grants to collections of preserved biological specimens at museums and related institutions as well as germ plasm centers for computerization of loan activities and catalogs, and renovating storage facilities. He also discusses his research on Luvarus imperialis at the Fish Division, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). He then turns to his appointment as the Associate Director of the NMNH at the Smithsonian in 1985; upon the resignation of Richard Fisk, serving as Acting Director; the administrative structure of the NMNH, meeting the staff, new exhibits and social events, unannounced plans of Secretary Robert Adams for enhancing relations between Smithsonian scientists and the academia. He then turns to founding an AA group, "No Bones About It," at the Smithsonian. He closes with his role as Acting Director of the National Air and Space Museum and reasons for the resignation of the former director Walter J. Boyne.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 17: November 10, 2004

Interviews

Interview of James C. Tyler by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman details the reorganization at NASM in order to create a more favorable work environment; appearing before the Congressional Committee on the Interior and Related Agencies of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, headed by Sidney Richard Yates, who oversaw the budget of the Smithsonian; social events at the NASM and meeting famous pilots like John Hershel Glenn, Jr., Chuck E. Yeager, the pilots of the Voyager (aircraft), later donated to the Smithsonian, and going to the Paris Air Show to take custody of a Concorde aircraft, also a donation to the Smithsonian; appointment of the new NASM director Martin Harwit and the controversy of the Enola Gay exhibit. Highlights his receipt of the Smithsonian Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, 1987, and after returning to the NMNH, becomes Acting Director when NMNH Director Robert “Bob? Hoffmann resigns. Closes with his unsuccessful bid for the directorship of the NMNH, appointment of Frank H. Talbot as Director, and Tyler receives the title of Senior Scientist in 1991.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 18: November 12, 2004

Interviews

Interview of James C. Tyler by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman recounts more on social events at the NASM, exhibition of Hydro Lab from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at the NMNH, and the controversy involving the return of the Indian cultural objects and skeletal remains in the possession of the Smithsonian to American Indian communities. He discusses his research at Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, describing the facilities operated by the Smithsonian on this remote island, and work on sailfin blennies. He closes with a review of his work on the tetraodontiform and acanthuroid fishes in fossil and extant forms; his involvement in the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, receiving the Gibbs Award from the ASIH, and future of ichthyology as a scientific field.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 2 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 cassette audiotapes.

Interview 19: September 11, 2008

Interviews

Interview of George R. Zug by Joseph C. Mitchell, David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman covers his youth in Pennsylvania, education at Albright College, biology major under mentor Al Schwartz, their field trip to Cuba in 1957, graduated 1960 and married Patricia Ann Brehm; next graduate school with Archie Carr and William J. Reimer at University of Florida Gainesville working on turtles, masters in 1963 and then to University of Michigan for Ph.D., Charles Walker and Arnold Kluge were advisors, dissertation on "Buoyancy, locomotion, morphology of pelvic girdle and hind, and systematic of cryptodiran turtles," graduated 1968, importance of publication, then came to NMNH when curator Doris M. Cochran retired in 1968, working with James A. Peters, research on frog locomotion, 1971-1972 field work in New Guinea; 1977-1983 served as chair of Vertebrate Zoology so focused on administration, collaboration on cane toads with STRI, with A. Stanley Rand, contributions of wife, Pat, press when he commented on reptiles of Loch Ness, relationship with Smithsonian Secretaries, role in Senate of Scientists, and Congressional Nights.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 3 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 3 cassette audiotapes.
Preservation Master: 6 digital audio .wav files.
Reference Copy: 6 digital audio .mp3 files.

Interview 20: November 20, 2010

Interviews

Interview of George R. Zug by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman covers the importance of his work on tropical American cane toads for Australia, where they became invasive; Victor G. Springer facilitated his move to Pacific region field work; collaboration with younger scholars where he study morphology and they study genetics, work on Pacific radiation of reptiles and importance of humans; has not worked on fossil species; c. 1999 Chris Wemmer brought him into work in Myanmar on snakes with Joe Slowinski who was killed by snake there, he focused on frogs.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 1.5 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 2 digital audio .wav files.
Reference Copy: 2 digital audio .mp3 files.

Interview 21: December 1, 2010

Interviews

Interview of George R. Zug by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman discusses his work with professional societies, joined the Herpetologist’s League in 1958 to be able to publish, then the Biological Society of Washington, and the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles and was involved in professionalizing their Journal of Herpetology, also served as turtles editor for American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, discusses differences between the societies; discusses management of the museum and staffing changes over time; closes with observation that caliber of research continues to improve.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 0.5 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 1 digital audio .wav file.
Reference Copy: 1 digital audio .mp3 file.

Interview 22: October 15, 2020

Interviews

Interview of Jeffrey T. Williams by David G. Smith and Inci Altug Bowman begins with his youth and education at Florida State University, University of South Alabama, University of Florida, and completed Ph.D. in 1986, Smithsonian predoctoral fellowship in 1980, joined staff in 1983, Collection Manager in 1985; turns to his field work including Rotuma Island, Fiji, 1986; Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania, 1989; Tobago, SE Caribbean Sea, 1990; New Caledonia and Loyalty Islands, South West Pacific, 1991; Tonga Islands, South West Pacific, 1993; Philippines, 1995, in connection with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) workshop; Vanuatu, South West Pacific, covering southern and northern islands, 1996 and 1997; Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands, South West Pacific, 1998, including George Zug of the Herpetology Division; Navassa Island, Caribbean, in connection with "Animal Planet" TV program, 1999; French Polynesian Islands (Rapa, Moorea, Mururoa, etc.), several expeditions between 2002 and 2019; and Philippines, 2011, involving DNA barcoding of commercial fishes, funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; assesses his career, noting the role of Victor Springer of the Fish Division as his mentor, who trained him in field work, helped him find funding for collection trips, and supported his research. In addition to the taxonomic description of fish species, photographing the live specimen, getting a live tissue sample, and analyzing the DNA barcoding became standard procedures in collection development during his long career at the Smithsonian.

Interviews

Recording of Interview: Total Recording Time: 03:14:40 hours.

Interviews
Original Master: 1 digital audio .wav file.
Reference Copy: 1 digital audio .mp3 file.