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General Description

Dr. Linda Deegan is an estuarine and arctic ecologist with expertise in freshwater inputs, food web interactions, eutrophication, estuaries, and coastal processes. Dr. Deegan’s research combines ecosystem perspectives, energy flows, and community dynamics to tackle issues such as the effects of habitat degradation on fish communities, the importance of fish in exporting nutrients and carbon in estuaries, and the response of upper trophic levels to increased nutrient trends in arctic landscapes. She has studied fish all over the world, including tetras fish in the Forests of the Amazon, graylings in the Arctic, and bluefish in New England. She volunteers at the Coonamessett River Trust to restore local cranberry bogs and provide habitat for native herring populations. She also enjoys gardening and walking in the woods (Woodwell, 2023).

Early Life and Education

Dr. Deegan earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts in 1976, her master’s degree in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire in 1979, and her Ph.D. in Marine Sciences from Louisiana State University in 1985 (University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2023).

Career and Research

From 1989 to the present-day Dr. Deegan has worked in “The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory” located in Woods Hole, MA. From 2002 to the present, she has been a senior Scientist, before 1994 to 2002 she was an associate Scientist, and from 1989 to 1994 she was an assistant Scientist. From 2012 to the present day, she has been the Program Director for the Division of Environmental Biology (Ecosystems) for the National Science Foundation located in Arlington, VA. From 2009 to the present, she has been the Director of the Comparative Analysis of Marine Ecosystem Organization (CAMEO) Program Office. Her joint NSF work under the NMFS Program has focused on understanding how climate and fishing interactions affect marine ecosystems' support of managed populations. From 2004 to the present, she has been a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Geology at Brown University in Providence, RI. From 1997 to now she has worked at the Marine Biological Laboratory as a Professor, Semester in Environmental Science, MBL. From 1989 to now she has been working as an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. From 1985 to 1988 Dr. Deegan worked as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Natural Resource Conservation at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (Deegan, 2000).

Deegan has conducted research on a wide range of ecological topics, including the effects of nutrient enrichment on salt marsh ecosystems, the impact of climate change on Arctic tundra ecosystems, and the role of wetlands in regulating carbon and nitrogen cycling. She has been involved in two long-term projects: The Woodwell Climate Research Center’s TIDE Project, and the Coonamessett River Trust Restoring a River Project. The TIDE project is a long-term ecological study that uses an ecosystem-level approach to understand the effects of eutrophication and altered food webs on salt marsh ecosystems in the Plum Island Estuary, Massachusetts. This project aims to understand the long-term effects of moderate increases in nutrients and changes in species on the productivity, food webs, and physical structure of salt marshes. The Coonamessett River Trust Restoring a River Project focuses on the restoration of rivers to establish healthier ecosystems that support fish, other aquatic organisms, and wildlife. The restoration began in 2007 with phase 1(Dexter’s Mill Crossing to Middle Dam) completed in 2018.

Dr. Deegan’s Selected Research Publications

Babitch, J.W., Nelson, J.A., Deegan, L.A. et al. Resolving Estuarine Nitrogen Use by Phytoplankton Communities Using a Whole Ecosystem Tracer Approach. Estuaries and Coasts 44, 1883–1898 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-00905-6

Coe MT, Brando PM, Deegan LA, Macedo MN, Neill C, Silvério DV. The Forests of the Amazon and Cerrado Moderate Regional Climate and Are the Key to the Future. Tropical Conservation Science. 2017;10. doi:10.1177/1940082917720671

Crosby, S.C., Angermeyer, A., Adler, J.M. et al. Spartina alterniflora Biomass Allocation and Temperature: Implications for Salt Marsh Persistence with Sea-Level Rise. Estuaries and Coasts 40, 213–223 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-016-0142-9

Deegan, L. A., & Garritt, R. H. (1997). Evidence for spatial variability in estuarine food webs. Marine Ecology. Progress Series (Halstenbek), 147(1/3), 31-47. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps147031

Deegan, L. A., Johnson, D. S., Warren, R. S., Peterson, B. J., Fleeger, J. W., Fagherazzi, S., & Wollheim, W. M. (2012). Coastal eutrophication as a driver of salt marsh loss. Nature, 490(7420), 388-392. doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11533

Jankowski, K. J., Deegan, L. A., Neill, C., Sullivan, H. L., Ilha, P., Maracahipes-Santos, L.,. . . Macedo, M. N. (2021). Land use change influences ecosystem function in headwater streams of the lowland amazon basin. Water, 13(12), 1667. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121667

Kearney, W.S., Mariotti, G., Deegan, L.A. and Fagherazzi, S. (2017), Stage-discharge relationship in tidal channels. Limnol. Oceanogr. Methods, 15: 394-407. https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10168

Kendrick, MR, Huryn, AD, Bowden, WB, et al. Linking permafrost thaw to shifting biogeochemistry and food web resources in an arctic river. Glob Change Biol. 2018; 24: 5738– 5750. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14448

Medvedeff, AB, Iannucci, FM, Deegan, LA, Huryn, AD, Bowden, WB. Long-term hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological data for the Kuparuk River, North Slope, Alaska. Hydrological Processes. 2021; 35: e14115. https://doi-org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/10.1002/hyp.14115

Nelson, J.A., Johnson, D.S., Deegan, L.A. et al. Feedbacks Between Nutrient Enrichment and Geomorphology Alter Bottom-Up Control on Food Webs. Ecosystems 22, 229–242 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0265-x

Peterson, B. J., Deegan, L., Helfrich, J., Hobbie, J. E., Hullar, M., Moller, B., Ford, T. E., Hershey, A., Hiltner, A., Kipphut, G., Lock, M. A., Fiebig, D. M., McKinley, V., Miller, M. C., Vestal, J. R., Ventullo, R., & Volk, G. (1993). Biological Responses of a Tundra River to Fertilization. Ecology, 74(3), 653–672. https://doi.org/10.2307/1940794

Awards and Accolades

Her national ranking for ecology and evolution is 738, with a D-Index. Her most cited publications include her work on Coastal Eutrophication of salt marsh loss (560 citations), Evidence for spatial variability for estuarine food webs (424 citations), and Biological Responses of a Tundra River to Fertilization (294 citations). She is also a guest contributor at the Pulitzer center (Deegan, 2000).

Deegan's honors include being a Murray F. Buell Award Finalist in 1984 by the Ecological Society of America. In 1983-1984 she earned a Rockefeller Scholarship from the Governor’s Special Commission on Education, LA. In 1983 she earned the Lipsey Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Marine Science Students. Also in 1983, she was awarded the American Assoc. of University Women, LSU Chapter, for outstanding graduate student. In 1979 Dr. Deegan was awarded the Foundation Scholarship for Study in Ecology at MBL. Also in 1979, she earned the University of New Hampshire Marine Program Scholarship for Study in Ecology at MBL. In 1976 she was Inducted into Sigma Xi and Phi Sigma at Northeastern University. In 1976 she was awarded the Phi Sigma Award for Excellence for Undergraduate Research. Also in 1976, she earned her Departmental Honors for Undergraduate Research. In 1974 she was awarded the Sigma Xi Grant-in-aid and from 1973-1974 was awarded the Grant-in-aid for Academic Scholarship. From 1973-1975 she was on the Dean’s Honor list at her university (Deegan, 2000).

Dr. Deegan was a Keynote Distinguished Alumni Speaker for Louisiana State University, Marine Science Program 40th. She was also an invited member of the ICES Study Group on Designing Marine Protected Area Networks in a Changing Climate from 2010 - 2011. She was a part of the International Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, Scientific Co-Chair, 2007 Meeting, Awards Committee 2003, 2005-2008, 2011. Member-at-large 1993-1995, Governing Board 2000-2007, Estuaries, Editorial Board 1987-1992, Co-Editor of Special Issue on Florida Bay 2000. She has been a member from 1976 to present-day (Deegan, 2000).

National award judging committees she’s been a part of includes the Estuarine Research Federation Awards Committee (2003, 2005, 2009), ARCUS Award for Arctic Research Excellence (1998, 2000), American Institute of Fisheries Research Biologists, Best Student Paper Award, and the Thompson Award Committee (1999, 2001). She was also a part of the Awards Committee, 1986-1987 for the University of Massachusetts (Deegan, 2000).

References

Deegan, L. A., Kendrick, M. R., Huryn, A. D., Bowden, W. B., Findlay, R. H., Hershey, A. E., Peterson, B. J., Benes, J. P., & Schuett, E. B. (2018). Linking permafrost thaw to shifting biogeochemistry and food web resources in an arctic river. Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14448

Deegan, L. (2000). Linda A. Deegan - Sab.noaa.gov. Resume. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://sab.noaa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Deegan-CV-Oct-2013.pdf.

(n.d.). About The Tide Project. The Tide Project. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://thetideproject.org/about/.

(n.d.). Linda A. Deegan. Research.com. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://research.com/u/linda-a-deegan.

(n.d.). Linda A. Deegan. Woodwell Climate and Research Center. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://www.woodwellclimate.org/staff/linda-deegan/.

(n.d.) Linda A. Deegan. Pulitzer Center. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://pulitzercenter.org/id/node/2936.

(n.d.). Linda Deegan: NE CASC. University of Massachusetts Amherst. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from https://necasc.umass.edu/people/linda-deegan