12 DECEMBER 2016 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG In Memoriam Robert ‘Bob’ Guillard was an icon in all senses of the word, and many tributes have and will be written (see Wikfors and Shumway 1996, Anderson 2011). This is but a brief overview a life very well-lived and shared. Born in New York City on 5 February 1921, Bob’s love for the natural environment was firmly established during his time with his grandparents in Stonington, Connecticut. An early scholar, Bob completed grammar school in seven years, graduated from Townsend Harris High School in New York City in three years, and earned a B.S. in physics (City College New York) by the time he was 20. Bob was then hired by the U.S. Navy to install and maintain antimagnetic mine equipment. He continued to pursue course work in the evenings and taught at New York University and CCNY. During this time he was smitten by a botany professor and decided that he wanted to become a ‘naturalist.’ He went to Yale in 1949 and received a Master’s degree (1951) on route to his Ph.D. (1954) under the tutelage of G. Evelyn Hutchinson. Soon after, he was awarded a summer fellowship to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; he had changed fields from botany to oceanography. After a short period in Hawaii, Bob was hired by the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Marine Laboratory in Milford, Connecticut where he was challenged by Victor Loosanoff with the task of ‘figuring out how to grow oysters.’ As Bob recounted it, his first thought was that the little oysters would need to be fed and reasoned that they were partial to what was in the water column. That was when he began isolating phytoplankton and developing the techniques to culture them in volume. His first publication was in the Proceedings of the National Shellfisheries Association and it launched shellfish aquaculture as we know it today — the path to f/2 was being laid. That first paper demonstrated that individual phytoplankton isolates differed in their nutritional value to oysters, thereby establishing the foundation for “the Milford Method” of feeding hatchery seed of shellfish selected strains of microalgae later further developed by Ravenna Ukeles and others. Without Bob’s pioneering work in phytoplankton culture and nutritional value, the rearing of shellfish in captivity would not be possible. In 1958, John Ryther recruited Bob to Woods Hole where he was a senior scientist and in 1981, he moved to the recently established Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and established the collection of algae and other microscopic marine organisms that was designated by Congress as the Provasoli-Guillard National Center for Culture of Marine Phytoplankton to honor two men whose research and mentoring had provided the world with a first-class source of algae for research and aquaculture. Anybody in the field of algal culture knows ‘f/2’ — but few realize that this was but a sideline for Bob. He was a global leader in the physiological ecology of phytoplankton. Bob reduced the curiosity that drove his science to this question: “Why do they live where they do?” Considering that phytoplankton cannot control their position, the question becomes almost metaphysical and leads one into the “n-dimensional hyperspace” (Bob’s phrase) of physics, chemistry, and biology combined. Bob excelled at creating an environment in which ephemeral microbes could thrive and be sustained, and in 1962, he published a paper with John Ryther that became one of the most cited papers in marine science (over 3400 citations at last note) as it described in detail the most successful algal-culture medium ever developed. Bob was anything but a one-dimensional scientist. He had a wide array of interests and talents outside the laboratory, including fencing (he was an instructor), Morris dancing (one of the best in the country), target shooting (his keenness for guns was legendary), and Transcendental Meditation, an activity that he shared with his wife Ruth, a TM teacher. His penchant for collecting all manner of what most would deem junk was well known, and those same doubters always knew where to go when they needed some esoteric item. Bob was recycling long before it was a word! Bob’s publication record was impressive by any standard and his advice was in constant demand. Ever the teacher, one frequently got far more than they bargained for when they asked what they initially deemed a ‘simple question.’ Out-of-the-blue phone calls that began with the words “I’ve been thinking…” could lead to lifetimes worth of questions needing answers. There are countless ‘Bob stories’ and, while some are suitable for publication, others will be saved for later celebrations. He was generous with his time and expertise and never lost his curiosity and questioning mind. In 1995 Bob was named an Honored Life Member of the National Shellfisheries Association, and in 1998 he was presented with the Honorary Life Member Award from the World Aquaculture Society. Bob passed away in his sleep on 25 September 2016 in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, leaving behind his wife of 53 years, Ruth, three stepsons and their families, and a barn full of decades of accumulated treasures — “just in case I need them someday” (including, one presumes, all those boxes of little blue paper circles that separate Millipore filters). Bob would scoff at all the attention being paid to his accomplishments. His curiosity was at the core of his existence and this, his keen intellect, and sharp wit were evident after even the shortest discussion with him. Scholar, old Yankee, friend — it was an honor, Robert Guillard (1921-2016) (CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE)
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