Frank E. Muller-Karger is a biological oceanographer (Professor) at the College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, where he directs the Institute for Marine Remote Sensing . He is of Hispanic descent via Puerto Rico , and while born in the U.S. he grew up in Venezuela . Muller-Karger conducts research on marine primary production using satellite remote sensing, large data sets, networking, and high-speed computing. This research helps in the location and monitoring of large-scale phenomena, understanding climate control and climate change, and in the interpretation of numerical models of the ocean. The focus of his present work is to assess the importance of continental margins, including areas of upwelling, river discharge, and coral reefs in the global carbon budget, using satellites that measure ocean color and sea surface temperature. Muller-Karger has worked hard to educate K-12 teachers in the region about the use of new technologies in oceanography through targeted workshops sponsored by NASA. He has also given lectures at various national educator societies, and serves as the science advisor for the Florida Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence (COSEE). He also led the effort to establish an internal committee within the College of Marine Science to define the college's mission with respect to education and outreach. Muller-Karger was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. In 2005, he was appointed to the Ocean Studies Board of the National Research Council/National Academies. Because of his keen interest in linking science and education processes, and his interest in addressing the problem of underserved and under-represented groups in academic science programs, he has been a champion for minorities, for educators, and science education within the Commission on Ocean Policy. This is reflected in the strong recommendations written by the Commission in the report forwarded to the president, Congress, and the nation. Muller-Karger previously received the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Award for Outstanding Contributions and the NASA Administrator Award for Exceptional Contribution and Service for supporting development of satellite technologies for ocean observation. Most recently (August 2007-August 2009) he served as Dean of the School for Marine Science and Technology or SMAST at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He has B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in marine science and a Masters degree in management and has authored or co-authored over 80 scientific publications. He speaks fluent Spanish and German.

Grants and Contracts 2008-1013

NASA: A Decision Support System for Ecosystem-Based Management of Tropical Coral Reef Environments ($1.2M)

NASA: Use of Oceanographic Data to Improve the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fisheries Management Decision Making (collaboration with lead organization: ROFFS, Inc.; $250,000)
NSF (National Science Foundation): The Cariaco Basin Oceanographic Time Series Program ($1.2M)

Selected Publications

Andréfouët, Serge, Claude Payri, Eric J. Hochberg, Chuanmin Hu, Marlin J. Atkinson, Frank E. Muller-Karger. 2004. Use of in situ and airborne reflectance for scaling-up spectral discrimination of coral reef macroalgae from species to communities. Marine Ecology Progress Series. Vol. 283: 161–177, 2004.

Andréfouët, S., Hochberg, E., C. Chevillon, F. E. Muller-Karger, J. C. Brock, and C. Hu. 2005. Multi-scale Remote Sensing of Coral Reefs. In: Remote Sensing of Coastal Aquatic Environments: Technologies, Techniques and Application, R.L. Miller, C.E. Del Castillo and B.A. McKee [Eds.], Springer, 297-315.

Astor, Y. M., M.I. Scranton, F. Muller-Karger, R. Bohrer, and J. García. (In press.) fCO2 variability at the CARIACO tropical coastal upwelling time series station. Marine Chemistry.

Astor, Y., F. Muller-Karger, and M. I. Scranton. 2003. Seasonal and Interannual Variation in the Hydrography of the Cariaco Basin : Implications for Basin Ventilation. Continental Shelf Research. Vol. 23. No. 1. 125-144.

Biggs, Douglas C. Ann E. Jochens, Matthew K. Howard, Steven F. DiMarco, Keith D. Mullin, Robert R. Leben, Frank E. Muller-Karger, and Chuanmin Hu. (In press, 2005) Eddy Forced Variations in On- and Off-Margin Summertime Circulation Along the 1000-m Isobath of the Northern Gulf of Mexico , 2000-2003, and Links with Sperm Whale Distributions Along the Middle Shelf. In: New Developments in the Circulation of the Gulf of Mexico , W. Sturges and A. Lugo-Fernandez, Editors. AGU Geophysical Monographs.

Gonzalez-Silvera, Adriana, Eduardo Santamaria-del-Angel, Virginia M. T. Garcia, C.A.E. Carlos A. E. Garcia, Roberto Millán-Nuñez, and Frank Muller-Karger. 2004. Biogeographical regions of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean off South America : classification based on pigment (CZCS) and chlorophyll-a (SeaWiFS) variability. Continental Shelf Research. Volume 24, Issue 9, Pages 983-1000

Goñi, Miguel A., Mark P. Woodworth, Heather L. Aceves, Robert C. Thunell, Eric Tappa, David Black, Frank Muller-Karger, Yrene Astor, and Ramon Varela. 2004. Generation, transport, and preservation of the alkenone-based UK '37 sea surface temperature index in the water column and sediments of the Cariaco Basin ( Venezuela ). Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Vol 18., GB2001, doi:10.1029/2003GB002132.

Hackett, K.E., Callahan, M.K., Andrefouet, S., Wheaton, J.L., Porter, J.W., Muller-Karger, F.E., 2003. The 2002 ocean color anomaly in the Florida Bight: A cause of local coral reef decline? Geophysical Research Letters. 30:

Ho, T-Y., G.T. Taylor, Y. Astor, R. Varela, F. E. Muller-Karger, and M.I. Scranton. 2004. Vertical and temporal variability of redox zonation in the water column of the Cariaco Basin : implications for organic carbon oxidation pathways. Marine Chemistry. 86 (2004) 89–104.

Hu, C., Frank E. Muller-Karger, Gabriel A. Vargo, Merrie Beth Neely, and Elizabeth Johns. 2004. Linkages between coastal runoff and the Florida Keys ecosystem: A study of a dark plume event. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 31, L15307, doi:10.1029/2004GL020382, 2004.

Hu, Chuanmin, Zhiqiang Chen, Tonya D. Clayton, Peter Swarzenski, John C. Brock, Frank E. Muller-Karger. 2004 (In press). Assessment of estuarine water-quality indicators using MODIS medium-resolution bands: Initial results from Tampa Bay , FL. Remote Sensing of Environment.

Hu, C., E T. Montgomery, R. W. Schmitt, and F. E. Muller-Karger. 2004 (In press) The Amazon and Orinoco River plumes in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean Sea : Observation from space and S-PALACE floats. Deep-Sea Research II.

Muller-Karger, Frank E., Ramon Varela, Robert Thunell, Remy Luerssen, Chuanmin Hu, and John J. Walsh. (In press, 2004). The importance of continental margins in the global carbon cycle. Geophysical Research Letters.

Muller-Karger, F. E. 2004. Our oceans are in deep trouble; but it's not too late. Op-Ed. St. Petersburg Times. 8 September 2004.

Muller-Karger, F. E., R. Varela, R. Thunell, Y. Astor, H. Zhang, and C. Hu. 2004. Processes of Coastal Upwelling and Carbon Flux in the Cariaco Basin . Deep-Sea Research II. Special Issue: Views of Ocean Processes from the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Mission : Volume 2 - Edited by D. A. Siegel, A. C. Thomas and J. Marra. Vol 51/10-11 pp 927-943.

Muller-Karger, F. E., C. Hu, S. Andréfouët, and R. Varela. 2004. The Color of the Coastal Ocean and applications in the solution of research and management problems. In : Remote Sensing of Coastal Aquatic Environments: Technologies, Techniques and Application, R.L. Miller, C.E. Del Castillo and B.A. McKee [Eds.], Springer, 101-127.

Muller-Karger, F. E., R. Varela, R. C. Thunell, M. I. Scranton, G. T. Taylor, Y. Astor, E. Tappa, M. A. Goñi, R. N. Sambrotto, H. Zhang, M. McIntyre, B. Marin, C. Hu, M. Iabichella, T.-Y. Ho, and R. H. Weisberg. (Accepted, 2004). CARIACO: A Time Series of Primary Production and Vertical Export in the Cariaco Basin . In: JGOFS CMTT Synthesis.

Palandro, D., Hu, C., Andréfouët, S. and Müller-Karger, F. E.. 2004. Synoptic water clarity assessment in the Florida Keys using diffuse attenuation coefficient estimated from Landsat imagery. Hydrobiologia. 530-531(1), pp 489-493.

Salisbury, J. E., J. W. Campbell, E. Linder,L. D. Meeker, F. E. Muller-Karger, C. J. Vorosmarty. 2004. On the seasonal correlation of surface particle fields with wind stress and Mississippi discharge in the northern Gulf of Mexico . Deep-Sea Research II, 51 (2004) 1187–1203.

Scranton , Mary I., Michelle McIntyre, Gordon T. Taylor, Frank Muller-Karger, Kent Fanning, Yrene Astor. (2004, In press.) Temporal Variability in the Nutrient Chemistry of the Cariaco Basin . In: (NATO volume on anoxic basins. Lev Neretin, Ed.)

Smoak, Joseph M., Claudia Benitez-Nelson, Willard S. Moore, Robert C. Thunell, Yrene Astor, Frank Muller-Karger. 2004. Radionuclide fluxes and particle scavenging in Cariaco Basin . Continental Shelf Research 24. 1451–1463.

Tang, D. L., I-H. Ni, F. E. Muller-Karger, and I. S. Oh. 2004 Monthly variation of pigment concentration and seasonal winds in China 's marginal seas. Hydrobiologia. 511. 1-15.

Taylor, Gordon T., Maria Iabichella-Armas, Ramon Varela, Frank Muller-Karger, Xueju Lin, and Mary I. Scranton. (2004, in press.) Microbial Ecology of the Cariaco Basin 's Redoxcline: the U.S.-Venezuela CARIACO Times Series Program. In: (NATO volume on anoxic basins. Lev Neretin, Ed.)

Thunell, Robert C., Daniel M. Sigman, Frank Muller-Karger, Yrene Astor, and Ramon Varela. 2004. Nitrogen isotope dynamics of the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. Vol 18, GB3001, doi:10.1029/2003GB002185.

U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 2004. An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century. Final Report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. Washington, D.C.

U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 2004. Preliminary Report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. Governor's Draft. Washington, D.C.

Weisberg, R.H., R. He, G. Kirkpatrick, F. Muller-Karger, and J.J. Walsh. 2004. Coastal Ocean Circulation Influences on Remotely Sensed Optical Properties: A West Florida Shelf Case Study, Oceanography, 17, 68-75.

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