Bob Black

Rocky intertidal areas and rainforests are both dominated by sessile organisms whose population dynamics can be described by tracking marked individuals, and Bob has always enjoyed taking short breaks from his marine research to work with Joe Connell in the Connell Rainforest Plots. Bob’s association with Joe goes back several decades to when Bob was a postdoctoral fellow with Joe at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Bob’s contribution to the plots dates at least as far back as 1976, and yet he has never had his name on a publication arising from the rainforest work. Instead, he has been content in his role as ‘a friend of the plots’. One consequence of his long involvement with the Connell Rainforest Plots is that he’s now one of just two people who know the ins and outs of monitoring them. In fact, in 2006 he re-censused both plots single-handedly when I couldn’t get away from teaching and hadn’t been successful in getting funds to work on the plots. This was a monumental effort—Bob took some sabbatical time, drove his own vehicle across from Western Australia, and spent several months alone in the field in Queensland measuring and counting seedlings, saplings and large trees, all without external funding. Essentially, Bob single-handedly ensured that the plots were monitored at a critical stage when no one else was in a position to do so. Forward planning can take us only so far. When all those carefully laid plans fall through despite the best of intentions, it sometimes takes an extraordinary act of dedication like this to maintain the schedule of censuses.
Type
party
Party Type
person
Access Privileges
Long Term Ecological Research Network
Given Name
Bob
Surname
Black
Brief Description
Bob Black is a marine biologist who recently retired from the University of Western Australia, where he studied the population dynamics of sessile intertidal organisms.
Full Description
Rocky intertidal areas and rainforests are both dominated by sessile organisms whose population dynamics can be described by tracking marked individuals, and Bob has always enjoyed taking short breaks from his marine research to work with Joe Connell in the Connell Rainforest Plots. Bob’s association with Joe goes back several decades to when Bob was a postdoctoral fellow with Joe at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Bob’s contribution to the plots dates at least as far back as 1976, and yet he has never had his name on a publication arising from the rainforest work. Instead, he has been content in his role as ‘a friend of the plots’. One consequence of his long involvement with the Connell Rainforest Plots is that he’s now one of just two people who know the ins and outs of monitoring them. In fact, in 2006 he re-censused both plots single-handedly when I couldn’t get away from teaching and hadn’t been successful in getting funds to work on the plots. This was a monumental effort—Bob took some sabbatical time, drove his own vehicle across from Western Australia, and spent several months alone in the field in Queensland measuring and counting seedlings, saplings and large trees, all without external funding. Essentially, Bob single-handedly ensured that the plots were monitored at a critical stage when no one else was in a position to do so. Forward planning can take us only so far. When all those carefully laid plans fall through despite the best of intentions, it sometimes takes an extraordinary act of dedication like this to maintain the schedule of censuses.
Email Address
p.green@latrobe.edu.au
Postal Address
Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution La Trobe University Bundoora. Vic 3086 Australia
Fields of Research
0602 - Ecology
Status: Published
Published to:
  • Australian National University
  • Australian National Data Service
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