Draft:Linda Deegan

Linda Deegan

Linda Deegan is an estuarine and arctic ecologist with expertise in freshwater inputs, food web interactions, eutrophication, estuaries, and coastal processes. Her 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.

Education

Deegan earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts in 1976 where she graduated Cum laude with Departmental Honors. Her Honors Thesis Title: “The growth, production, and metabolism of the mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) in a New England saltmarsh.” Shortly thereafter, she earned her master’s degree in Zoology from the University of New Hampshire in 1979 with her thesis project focusing on, “The growth and survivorship of Coho salmon in Great Bay, New Hampshire.” She then went on to earn her Ph.D. in Marine Sciences from Louisiana State University in 1985, and minoring in statistics. Her dissertation focused on, “The population ecology and nutrient cycling of gulf menhaden in Fourleague Bay, Louisiana.”

Career and research

Linda Deegan began her career in 1985 as an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and later become an Adjunct Professor in 1989 in the Department of Environmental Conservation. In 1989, she joined the Ecosystem Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, first as an Assistant Scientist and now a Senior Scientist as of 2002. From 2004 to the present day, she has been a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Geology at Brown University, and from 2009 to the present day, she has been the Director of the Comparative Analysis of Marine Ecosystem Organization (CAMEO), a joint NSF and NOAA program. In 2016, Deegan joined the Woodwell Climate Research Center as Senior Scientist and 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

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. Deegan has led this project for twenty years, and it is the only coastal ecosystem-scale nutrient addition experiment in the world.

Restoring a River Project

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.

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. https://doi.org/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
• 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. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13121667
• 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
• 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

Awards and honors

According Research.com and the H-Index, her national ranking for ecology and evolution is 867 as of 2023, with a D-Index. Her most cited publications include her work on Coastal Eutrophication of salt marsh loss (894 citations), Evidence for spatial variability for estuarine food webs (609 citations), and Biological Responses of a Tundra River to Fertilization (433 citations). She is also a guest contributor at the Pulitzer center.

• Lipsey Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Marine Science Students (1983)

• Murray F. Buell Award Finalist by the Ecological Society of America (1984)
• Rockefeller Scholarship from the Governor’s Special Commission on Education, LA.(1983-1984)
• American Assoc. of University Women, LSU Chapter, for outstanding graduate student.(1983)
• Foundation Scholarship for Study in Ecology at MBL and the University of New Hampshire Marine Program Scholarship for Study in Ecology at MBL(1979)
• Phi Sigma Award for Excellence for Undergraduate Research.(1976)
• Departmental Honors for Undergraduate Research(1976)
• Sigma Xi Grant-in-aid (1974) and Grant-in-aid for Academic Scholarship(1973-1974)
• Dean’s Honor list at her university(1973-1975)

References

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