- About
- With 500+ faculty, staff and students and three campus locations, the Batten School & VIMS are equipped to tackle pressing challenges through research, education and advisory service.
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- Research & Advisory
- Purple marsh crabs are significantly disrupting carbon cycling in salt marshes along the East Coast of the U.S., according to a study led by Batten School & VIMS scientists.
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- Batten School
- The R. Todd Stravitz Scholars Program will provide full tuition support for students pursuing the new bachelor’s degree in coastal & marine sciences at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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- Engage
- Popular, free camps enable rising third through eighth graders to learn about the Chesapeake Bay, coastal ecosystems and environmental stewardship.
  
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- News & Events
- National TRAP Program funds large-scale cleanup of discarded fishing gear, first round of subawards totaling more than $1.4M supports 11 projects focused on removing derelict fishing gear from coastal waters in nine U.S. states and Palau.
  
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- Giving
- As an expression of parental pride in their daughter, Taylor Spencer ‘83 and Martha Spencer recently established an undergraduate field research endowment at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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Robert J. Diaz

Faculty Emeritus

Retired: 2013
Department: Biological Sciences
Email: [[diaz]]
Interests: Benthic ecology, low dissolved oxygen

Education and Honors

B.A., La Salle College
M.S., University of Virginia
Ph.D., University of Virginia
D.H.C., Göteborg University, Sweden

About

My research interests center around understanding the consequences of low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia) to ecosystem functioning and organism-sediment interactions (bioturbation). In particular, how perturbations of functions and processes influence energy flow. I am striving to estimate the relative resource value of the various estuarine and marine benthic habitat types and how hypoxia affects energy flows. The goal is to quantify energy flow between habitats and develop environmentally sound management strategies. In addition, I am also interested in the application of the statistical and numerical methods to biological data. I am broadly interested in the ecology and taxonomy of estuarine and marine invertebrates with specialization in oligochaetes.