The
Era of Theodore Wells Pietsch
Theodore Wells Pietsch (1945-) was appointed Assistant Professor and
Curator of Fishes at the School of Fisheries in the fall of 1978 (Fig. 16). Pietsch received
his B.S. in zoology in 1967 at the
Pietsch is a collection based systematic ichthyologist with interests in biosystematics, distribution and zoogeography, and the functional morphology of feeding behavior in fishes, as well as in the history of science. His particular expertise is in deep-sea anglerfishes of the order Lophiiformes. Pietsch advanced to associate professor in 1981 and professor in 1984.66
When Pietsch
arrived at the
Pietsch immediately applied for financial support to begin the task of rehabilitating the Collection. He received a two-year (1979-1981) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that provided for basic curatorial requirements.67 The physical plant was improved by using these funds for the installation of improved lighting, ventilation, and a new fumehood. A large stainless steel sink was installed and the walls in the Collection area were painted. Immediate research needs were met with the purchase of microscopes, a refrigerator, freezer, filing cabinets, and a typewriter (Pietsch, 1982a).
The Collection was cleaned,
realcoholed, and rearranged. All lots had been identified and properly
stored for immediate retrieval by the end of the grant period in 1982. Efforts begun in 1981 to re-label and
re-catalog the Collection were interrupted, however, by severe budget cuts at
the
An acquisition policy was
formulated by Pietsch to emphasize the collection of
cold-water fishes from the North Pacific.
To this end, the fishes collected by Herre
from the Philippine Islands in 1947-1948 were transferred to the California
Academy of Sciences in 1980 and 1982 in exchange for material from the
Pietsch developed a course in ichthyology for undergraduate students that he generally taught twice yearly from 1978-1989. He also taught comparative anatomy of fishes, various seminars, and other courses for graduate students. Pietsch is noted for his excellent teaching. He received the first of his four awards for excellence in teaching in 1986 (and he additionally received three “honorable mentions”), and was made a “Fellow of the University of Washington Teaching Academy” in 1998.70
Graduate students became an integral part of the ichthyology program. During the period 1978-1987, Pietsch supervised the work of seven graduate students culminating in the granting of four Master of Science degrees and three doctorates (Appendix).71 The thesis research of these students was based mainly on specimens in the Fish Collection or those obtained on loan from other institutions. During this period three graduate students were normally in residence.
Pietsch was highly productive during his initial decade at the UW. He published about 48 papers from 1978-1987. Most of these publications were on the systematics of the fishes of the Order Lophiiformes, his specialty (e.g., Pietsch, 1979, 1981; Pietsch and Van Duzer, 1980).72 In 1987 he, and co-author David B. Grobecker, published a book summarizing Pietsch’s research on shallow-water antennarioid anglerfishes (Pietsch and Grobecker, 1987).
In the mid-1980s, the
Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), part of the NMFS, with significant
funding to the UW from NSF, transferred much of its collection of marine fish
eggs and larvae to the Collection. This
was the start of significant growth in the accession of early life history
stages of fishes from the
In this period, Pietsch undertook several contracts with the AFSC to provide an ichthyological meristic database and a literature database for that Center’s early life history group. Additionally, contracts were received for teaching fish identification to NMFS’s newly hired foreign fisheries observers (Table 4).73
Pietsch also received ten grants during 1978-1987, mainly from the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution, for collection based systematic studies of fishes. He also received three grants to aid in the preparation of books he was writing (Table 4).74
As part of a planned expansion of physical facilities for the marine sciences, the University of Washington in the 1980s approved construction of a new fisheries building, Fisheries Teaching and Research (FTR). The 28,000 square foot (gross) building was designed to house the Curator of Fishes, graduate students in ichthyology, and the Fish Collection, as well as to provide classrooms, laboratories, and office space for other faculty, staff, and graduate students (Fig. 18). Occupancy was set for late 1989.75
Pietsch submitted a grant proposal to NSF in
1987 to facilitate and upgrade the physical facilities for the Collection and
to otherwise prepare it for relocation to the new fisheries building. He asked for a three-year commitment of
support to 1) re-catalog and computerize the entire Collection; 2) recap the
existing glassware with museum-approved polypropylene lids equipped with
polypropylene liners; 3) convert the preservation fluid from isopropyl to
ethanol;76
4) identify and curate all back-log material; and 5) box, transfer, and
reorganize the Collection in a manually operated, compactor storage system in
the new building. The proposal was
funded in April 1988 for a three-year period.77 Significant financial support for the new
facility also came from the
A full-time manager for the
Collection, Alexandra M. Snyder, was hired upon receipt of the NSF grant in the
fall of 1988. A graduate of the
The new Collection facility
in FTR was inaugurated on
The Collection is stored in a moveable Spacesaver™ compactor system. The compactors provide 5,285 linear feet of shelf space for the Collection, but uses only about 84% of the floor space previously required (Figs. 22, 23). This system allows for considerable future expansion.81
By the time the NSF grant
expired in 1991, most all specimens had been converted to ethanol preservative,
metal lids had been replaced by polyethylene lids, large specimens had been
transferred to new stainless steel tanks, and most backlogged material had been
cataloged. The transfer of ledger
records into computer files had begun with over 14,500 lots entered into the
Collection data management system by the end of 1991. By prior agreement with NSF, the
In the spring of 1991, Pietsch submitted another grant proposal to NSF, this time
to establish an “
Pietsch
asked that financial support be provided by NSF to 1) relocate and consolidate
all existing egg and larval material in the new Fish Collection facility; 2)
convert the preservation fluid for larvae from buffered formalin to 70%
ethanol; 3) double vial and label the entire Collection; 4) catalog and
computerize the entire Collection; and 5) arrange the Collection in cardboard
trays and wooden drawers in “Cornell insect cabinets.” The proposal was funded for three years
beginning in July 1992 with additional support from the School and the
A post-doctoral research
associate was hired in September 1992 to oversee the curation
project. Michael William Brogan received
his doctorate at the
By the fall of 1995 when
the NSF grant expired, about 55,000 lots of fish eggs and larvae had been
transferred to the Collection from the
Additional funding to
continue the transfer to the Collection was provided from 1995-1997 by the AFSC
through the
In an effort
to bring together ichthyologists of the
The Collections Manager, Alexandra
Snyder, left the UW in November 1992 to take a position at the
Brian Keith Urbain joined the UW as Collections Manager in September
1993. A graduate of the
With Urbain “on board,” a concerted effort was made to catalog and computerize the large backlog of material that had accumulated over the past several years. Most of these adult specimens came from the AFSC as a result of interactions between Pietsch and that agency over the previous 15 years. Several undergraduate students in fisheries were hired to assist in this undertaking and over 6,300 catalog accessions were added within two years, an increase of over 25%. Noteworthy in this effort was Kirt M. Hughes, then an undergraduate student. He single-handedly curated, cataloged, and organized the Collection’s 500 or so large (2-, 3-, and 5-gallon) glass-jarred lots.90
In late 1993 Urbain updated the Collection’s database management
practices. He switched from “dBase”
(DOS) database software to “Paradox,” a Windows TM based
program. Urbain
implemented a new set of data-entry standards and structural changes to the
database in order to ensure greater data consistency and accuracy. After the conversion was effected in early
1994, effort was then focused on editing the existing data and continuing the
computerization of the cataloged lots in the Collection. Several undergraduate students, both hired
and volunteer, assisted Urbain.91
In an effort to expand the
educational potential of the Collection and to reach a greater audience outside
the University community, an Elementary Outreach Program was established in
late 1995. The program provides tours of
the Fish Collection facilities for elementary school children and engages them
in “hands-on” workshops illustrating fish diversity. The program has been extremely popular with
the public and hundreds of children from local
Another two-year contract with AFSC was initiated in 1999. This contract was to 1) assemble and transfer to the Collection from AFSC all available eggs and larvae collected from 1991-1994; 2) transfer collection and ecological data associated with the eggs and larvae from AFSC files to the UW database; 3) upgrade and add to the database; 4) complete a full inventory of lots housed in the UW Collection; and 5) incorporate into the Collection eggs and larvae of miscellaneous taxa that were retained by AFSC during earlier transfers (Table 4).93
Additional contracts were
received from the AFSC during 1999-2001.
One contract was to curate and accession adult rockfishes into the
Collection. A second, larger contract
provided for the training and curation over three
years of the NMFS Domestic Observer Program.
In 2001 a third contract over three years provided for curation of adult specimens from surveys of AFSC off
A “sea change” for the Fish
Collection began in October 1993 when Pietsch
submitted a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation to undertake a
cooperative, international exploration of the flora and fauna of the Kuril Archipelago, a chain of some 56 islands lying north
of Japan and off the east coast of Russia.
The International Kuril Island Project (IKIP)
was a collaboration of American, Russian, and Japanese scientists to survey the
plants, insects, spiders, freshwater and terrestrial mollusks, freshwater
fishes, amphibians, and reptiles of the Kuril
Archipelago. The participating
institutions were the
The genesis of IKIP
occurred in 1991 when Pietsch was on a fellowship at
The goals of this study were to 1) survey the major islands of the Kuril Archipelago, and the southern tip of Kamchatka, focusing on plants, insects, spiders, freshwater and terrestrial mollusks, freshwater fishes, amphibians, and reptiles; 2) sort, identify, and curate whole specimens and ethanol-fixed tissue Collection for future study; 3) develop a database of specimens and taxa for use in later studies; 4) make the immediate results of the surveys—databases, written information, as well as preserved collections—widely available as quickly as possible to researchers around the world; 5) provide training, field experience, and research opportunities for students and professional biologists of all three participating institutions; and 6) publish descriptions of new species, record new distributional records, and prepare keys, guides, and annotated checklists of the flora and fauna of the Kuril Islands.97
The International Kuril Island Program was a highly successful biological
survey. The stated goals were met and,
in some cases, exceeded. Each summer
from 1994-2000 international teams of scientists and students (averaging 34 per
year and totaling 77 individuals for all seven years combined) met in
Over the course of the field studies, several undisturbed archaeological sites were discovered on various islands of the Archipelago. These discoveries led to the collaboration of paleobiologists and archaeologists from the three cooperating nations and to a request to NSF for additional funding to incorporate archaeological studies into IKIP.99
Although IKIP ended in
2000, the cooperative biodiversity program was extended to
The long-term IKIP and Okhotskia projects provided field and laboratory
opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students at the UW. A series of seven NSF grants (for about
$10,000 each) to support undergraduate research (Research Experience for
Undergraduates) was obtained by Pietsch from
1995-2001 (Table 4).102 Two
or three undergraduates per year took part in one or more IKIP
expeditions. Grants from NSF also
supported ichthyology graduate students.
The project also provided training for Russian faculty, students, and
government biologists.103
Over 335,000 specimens of
various taxa were collected, exported to the
A program of the size,
scope, and duration of IKIP and the resultant magnitude of the collections
made, and data obtained, required a significant effort at database
management. A web-site was
established and, using computer-based inventory-control programs, a
Through fall 2001, about
154 publications have emanated from IKIP.
Forty descriptions of new taxa have been
published (or are in press), including three new fishes. Many more publications are reasonably
expected in the future.107
An NSF and JSPS supported
“International Symposium on Kuril Island
Biodiversity” organized by Pietsch was held 18-22 May
2001 in
The past 15 years or so have been a time of maturing of the Fish Collection. The Collection has grown yearly with the addition of specimens mainly from IKIP, AFSC, and the Foreign and Domestic Fisheries Observer Programs of NMFS. The yearly growth rate is estimated to be about 5%. The total number of fishes is about 243,300 adolescents and adults and about 5.7 million eggs and larvae.
The advent of the computer during this period was a major change for record keeping of the Collection. The computerization of the Collection is a continuing process. The maturing of the Internet has made the dissemination of information and data to a wide audience a relatively easy task.
While Pietsch continued to teach ichthyology and various other courses dealing mainly with the anatomy and systematics of fishes, he obtained additional grants from NSF, the Smithsonian Institution, and private foundations for his studies on the systematics of various groups of fishes. Additionally, he obtained four grants from various benefactors for book subsidies (Table 4).109
In 1997 the Fish Collection
received significant attention from ichthyologists and herpetologists from
across the nation. In June of that year,
Pietsch hosted the Annual Meeting of the American
Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) on the UW campus while also
serving as the President of the Society for 1996-1997. This conference was a joint meeting of six
societies, including ASIH. Other
participants were the Herpetology League, Society for the Study of Amphibians and
Reptiles, 21st Early Life History Conference, American Elasmobranch Society, and the Gilbert Ichthyological
Society Annual Meeting. There were 1662
persons registered for the meetings, making the
In 1998 Pietsch received a significant endowment to establish the
“Dorothy T. Gilbert Endowed Ichthyology Research Fund.” Mrs. Gilbert (1929-)
of
Funds from
the “Gilbert Endowment” have been used to enable graduate students to travel to
museums to examine “type material” and to purchase equipment such as digital
calipers and computers for student’s research.
This endowment has enabled the Curator to provide research funds for
graduate students in ichthyology now and will provide such in the foreseeable
future. 110
Fourteen advanced degrees
(10 M.S. and four Ph.D.) in ichthyology were awarded during 1988-2002 (Appendix). These students all extensively utilized the
Fish Collection.
The Collections Manager,
Brian Urbain, left the UW in August 2001 to study
entomology at the
During 1988-2002, Pietsch published about 57 papers on a variety of fish
topics. These included additional papers
on lophiiform fishes (e.g., Bertelsen
and Pietsch, 1996, 1998; Stewart and Pietsch, 1998), systematic papers on other taxa (Pietsch, 1989, 1993), and papers emanating from the
IKIP (i.e., Amaoka et al., 2000; Pietsch
et al., 2001). Additionally, he
published an increasing number of contributions on the history of ichthyology,
including two books (e.g., Pietsch, 1995a, b; 1997,
2001).112
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