HONORED LIFE MEMBER EUGENE M. BURRESON MARCH 25, 2009

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Gene Burreson s arrival in the field of shellfish research was unplanned. A fish pathologist and parasitologist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) from 1977, he was drawn into shellfish pathology in the early 1980s, working with the recently retired, but still active, Jay Andrews. Oyster mortality was rising during a time of drought and the institute needed to provide guidance to the state Secretary of Commerce and Resources and aquaculture community. Gene completely immersed himself in oyster disease research during the historic outbreak ofMSX and dermo diseases in Chesapeake Bay beginning in 1986. That nearly total change in career focus, it should be noted, was not entirely Gene s choice—it was a directive from Frank Perkins, who was Director of VIMS at the time, and under pressure from the state government to respond to the oyster disease crisis. It was, however, serendipitous. A renewed U.S. federal emphasis on funding the study of oyster diseases through establishment of the Sea Grant Oyster Disease Research Program in 1989 led to a significant expansion of research in this area. Burreson and colleagues including Susan Ford capitalized on this support and developed comprehensive research programs. Over the subsequent quarter century, Gene produced an extensive body of work and numerous seminal papers. The paper he authored with Lisa Ragone Calvo, ‘‘Epizootiology of Perkinsus marinus disease of oysters in Chesapeake Bay, with emphasis on data since 1985,’’ stands as a classic and remains one of the most highly cited papers in shellfish science (Burreson & Ragone Calvo 1996). Gene has published nearly 80 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters to date on shellfish health, oyster disease ecology, nonnative oysters, parasite phylogenetics, and related topics, in addition to many others on fish parasites. Collectively, those achievements established him as one of the leading figures in the long history of shellfish pathology. Eugene M. Burreson was born in Seattle, WA, on July 25, 1944. He moved to Pendleton, OR, when he was four and lived there through his graduation from Pendleton High School in 1962. He attended Oregon State University from 1962 to 1965, majoring in Zoology, before transferring to Eastern Oregon College (now University) in La Grande, OR, for his final year. He married the former Susan Clark in 1966 and graduated fromEastern Oregon that year with a B.S. degree in biology. Almost immediately, Gene was off to Pensacola, FL, for Aviation Officer Candidate School, which ended with his commission as Ensign in the U.S. Navy in September 1966 (Gene received his commission fromAdmiral John S. McCain, Jr., father of current U.S. Senator John S. McCain III). He subsequently began flight training, and was eventually attached to Heavy Attack Squadron (VAH) 10 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island,WA, flying aircraft carrier-based A-3 Skywarriors, which theNavy used for in-flight refueling. Genemade the first cruise on the carrier USS John F. Kennedy to the Mediterranean Sea. As the Viet Nam war wound down, the Navy released junior officers early, and Gene was honorably discharged in September 1969. He immediately entered graduate school in Zoology at the Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, OR, from which he earned an M.S. degree in 1973, and a Ph.D. in 1975 with a dissertation on blood parasites of marine fishes. After his graduation, Gene was hired by Normandeau Associates, Inc., as Project Director for Seabrook Nuclear Plant Environmental Studies in Hampton, NH. Gene joined VIMS in 1977 as Program Manager of Bureau of Land Management Middle Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies. .Â