VIMS
Roger Mann Home

Roger L. Mann

Professor

Email: [[v|rmann]]
Phone: (804) 684-7360
Office: Andrews Hall 425
Section: Natural Resources
Lab Website: {{http://www.vims.edu/research/units/labgroups/molluscan_ecology/index.php, Molluscan Ecology Lab}}
Project Website: {{http://www.scemfis.org, Science Center for Marine Fisheries}}

Education
  • Ph.D.  Marine Science. University College of North Wales, Bangor, Wales
  • B.S.  Biological Science. University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.
Research Interests

Spatial distribution and range shifts of molluscs along the Atlantic due to climate change.  Development of shell ageing techniques and ageing of market species bivalves such as clams and scallops.  Physiological ecology of marine molluscs. Larval dispersal and settlement processes in estuarine and shallow water systems.

Academic Positions

2003-2012, Director for Research and Advisory Services, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences
1987-present, Professor, College of William and Mary
1985-1987, Associate Professor, College of William and Mary
1981-1984, Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)
1977-1981, Assistant Scientist, WHOI
1975-1977, Post-Doctoral Fellow, WHOI
2022-present, Associate Graduate Faculty, University of Maine

Current Projects
  • Population models of the Chesapeake oyster resources.
  • Physiological and ecological studies of bivalve mollusc larvae in the field and laboratory.
  • Dispersal processes in estuarine systems.
  • Resource stock assessment by fishery dependent and fishery independent methods.
  • Population assessment, life history and fishery management of offshore clam resources.
  • Ecological restoration of oyster reef communities.
  • Biology and ecology of veined rapa whelks in the Chesapeake Bay.
  • Population demographics, growth rates, and age structure for Chesapeake hard clam resources.
Selected Fellowships and Grants (active in bold)

10/1/2022 – 9/30/2023. The Virginia Seed Oyster Fishery: A Management Decision Tool. Roger Mann and Andrew Scheld co-PIs. Total $78,775. Virginia Marine resources Commission.  

6/1/2022-5/30/2024. Collaborative Research: Reconstructing bottom water temperatures from bivalves on the continental shelf: Holocene history as a window to the future in the Mid-Atlantic. Roger Mann (VIMS), Eric Powell (U. Southern Mississippi), Eileen Hofmann and John Klinck (Old Dominion Univ), Carolyn Ummenhoffer (WHOI). $396,469. VIMS portion $103,848. National Science Foundation 

5/1/2022-4/30/2023. Research Experience for a Undergraduate (REU) in the SCeMFiS projects.  – 3 students at $8,000 each. Total $24,000. National Science Foundation. Stipend, technical and travel support to REU participants.

9/1/2020-8/31/2023. Pew Foundation/LenFest Ocean Program. Support of a post doctoral investigator – climate change and fisheries. $210,418. Proposal generated by a 6 person team invited by Lenfest. Post doc situated at U. Wisconsin.

1/1/2021-7/1/2023. INTERN DCL NSF 18-102: Fisheries and climate change. NSF. $54,927. Stipend, technical and travel support to graduate student Alexis Hollander

11/1/2019-6/30/2023 (extended due to COVID). Research Experience for a Veteran (VET) in the SCeMFiS project entitled “Ocean quahogs (Arctica islandica) age structure.” - $10,000. National Science Foundation. Stipend, technical and travel support to veteran participant.

4/1/2019 – 3/31/24. Industry/University Cooperative Research Center: Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS). Eric N. Powell (University of Southern Mississippi) and Roger Mann (VIMS) VIMS portion - $500,000 from National Science Foundation plus $2,000,000 industry matching. Technical and travel support only from NSF portion.  Variable salary from industry portion.

3/1/2020-2/28/2023 (12 month no cost extension granted). Age based assessment in the sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus. Roger Mann and David Rudders, co-PI’s. $ 692,772. NOAA scallop RSA program

2/1/2021-6/30/2022. Research Experience for a Undergraduate (REU) in the SCeMFiS projects.  - $8,000. National Science Foundation. Stipend, technical and travel support to REUparticipant.

3/1/2018-2/28/2021 (12 month no cost extension).  The Effect of Density on the Growth, Yield and Reproduction of the Sea Scallop, Placopecten magellanicus. David Rudders and Roger Mann, co-PI’s. $320,279. NOAA scallop RSA program.

1/1/2018-3/312021. (no cost extension granted). Expanding Virginia’s oyster industry while minimizing user conflict.  Roger Mann, Marcia Berman, Melissa Southworth. PI. $261,288. DEQ - VA Coastal Zone Management Program.

10/1/2018-12/31/2018. Survey of clam resources in the HRBT expansion footprint. Roger Mann and Melissa Southworth co-PI’s. VA Department of Transportation.

11/1/2017-10/30/2018. Research Experience for an Undergraduate (REU) in the SCeMFiS project entitled “Ocean quahogs (Arctica islandica) age structure.” - $8,000. National Science Foundation. Stipend, technical and travel support to student participant.

9/1/2016-8/31/2019. Age structure and recruitment in the ocean quahog Arctica islandica. Roger Mann PI. $275,473 NOAA-SK.

3/1/2016-2/28/2019. Age structure and growth rate in the sea scallop Placopecten magellanicus. Roger Mann and David Rudders, co-PI’s. $608,626. NOAA scallop RSA program.

4/1/2013 – 3/31/2019 (includes one year no cost extension). Industry/University Cooperative Research Center: Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS). Eric N. Powell (University of Southern Mississippi) and Roger Mann (VIMS) VIMS portion - $300,000 from National Science Foundation plus $1,500,000 industry matching. Technical and travel support only from NSF portion.  Variable salary from industry portion.

3/1/2017-2/28/2018 in no cost extension. Shell/habitat dynamics in oyster restoration and fishery management. Roger Mann PI. $59,999. Chesapeake Bay Trust.

7/1/2014-6/30/2015. Participation of a high school teacher in the SCeMFiS project entitled “Ocean quahogs (Arctica islandica) recruitment and life history dynamics.” - $10,000. National Science Foundation. Salary, technical and travel support to teacher participant only. 

4/1/2013 – 3/31/2018. Industry/University Cooperative Research Center: Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS). Eric N. Powell (University of Southern Mississippi) and Roger Mann (VIMS) VIMS portion - $300,000. National Science Foundation plus $1,500,000 industry matching. Technical and travel support only from NSF portion.  Variable salary from industry portion.

10/1/2014-12/31/2014. Stock assessment of Virginia Oysters. Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Field personnel support only – reimbursable to $10,000.

7/1/2012-12/30/2014. Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence. College of William and Mary. $10,000.

7/1/2013-9/30/2014. Shell budgets in the Virginia Chesapeake Bay: Quantitative estimates to support long term restoration and resource stabilization. Virginia Oyster Heritage Foundation. Roger Mann (VIMS) and James Wesson (VMRC) $30,000 (student and technical support).

10/1/2009-9/30/2012 (no cost extension through 9/30/2014). Collaborative Research: Climate Change and Responses in a Coupled Marine System. NSF. $613,707. Lead PI McCay (Rutgers) VIMS award $99,999. Mann 1.0 mo/yr. 

7/1/2011-6/30/2013 (no cost extension through 6/30/2014). A bay-wide approach to oyster stock assessment, estimates of vital rates and disease status. NOAA-NCBO. $ 336,193. Mann (lead PI) 1.0 mo/yr., with Ryan Carnegie (VIMS), James Wesson (VMRC), Mike Naylor and C. Dungan (MD DNR), Kennedy Paynter Jr. (UMD) and Howard Townsend (NOAA).

2/1/2012 – 1/31/2013. Planning Grant: Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Mid-Atlantic Center for Fisheries Science (MaCFiS). Eric N. Powell (Rutgers) and Roger Mann (VIMS) $30,000. National Science Foundation. Technical and travel support only. 

1/1/2012-12/31/2013. Climate Change and the Fisheries Food Web in the Chesapeake Bay and coastal Atlantic Ocean. Robert Latour, Mary Fabrizio and Roger Mann. (VEE post doctoral support).

5/23/2011-12/21/2012. Shell substrate conditions and predator exclusion in oyster restoration. Virginia Oyster Heritage Foundation. Roger Mann (VIMS) and James Wesson (VMRC) $25,000 (technical support).

7/1/2011-6/30/2013 (no cost extension through 6/2014 to accommodate field work schedule). Oyster planting protocols to deter losses to cownose ray predation. NOAA-NCBO. $156,297. Mann (Lead PI) 1.0 mo/yr with James Wesson (VMRC), A.J. Erskine (Cowart Seafood), Tommy Leggett and Bill Goldsborough (CBF). 

11/1/2010-12/31/2013 – (final report in preparation, due 3/31/2014)  Shell budgets as a tool in oyster restoration and fishery management – application in Louisiana Primary State Seed Grounds. $150,000. National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. Mann (lead PI) 0.5 mo/yr. 

Selected Publications
Honors, Prizes and Awards
  • School of Marine Science Outstanding Faculty Award in Advisory Service, 2022

  • At-large member of the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council representing Virginia.  Appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, First Term 2016-2019
  • Governor's appointment to the Commonwealth's Aquaculture Advisory Board, Second Term 2013-2016 
  • Plumeri Faculty Award, William and Mary 2012
  • Chesapeake Bay Commission Tribute to Excellence, 1994, for “...official recognition of significant contributions to the management and protection of the Chesapeake Bay.” 
  • School of Marine Science Outstanding Teacher Award, 2001
  • Kirby Lang Visiting Professor in Marine Science, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Marine Science Laboratories, Menai Bridge, Wales, 2003
  • Honored Life Member, National Shellfisheries Association, 2008
  • Editor, Journal of Shellfish Research from 1982 -1986. Editorial board (current): Aquaculture (Elsevier), Journal of Shellfish Research

Offices in professional societies:

National Shellfisheries Association (in chronological order): 

Publications Committee member (1980-present), Publications Committee (2021 – present), Chair, Journal Editor (J. Shellfish Research) (1982-86), Editorial Board (1982-present), Vice President (1986-87), Program Chairman (1987 AGM), President Elect (1987-88), President (1988-89), AGM. Site and Program Organizer 1989-90, Constitutional Revision Committee 1990-91, Chair, Honorary Membership Committee 1991-92 and 1995-96.

Current and Graduated Students

Current Students:

Alexandria Marquardt. PhD candidate in progress. Dynamics of oyster populations.

Kaitlyn Clark. PhD candidate in progress, co-mentor with David Rudders. Density dependent growth in the scallop Placopecten magellanicus.

Graduated Students:

Alexis Hollander. 2022. M.S. Juvenile growth rates in the Atlantic surfclam Spisula solidissima over a multi-decadal year time frame in the Mid Atlantic Bight.

David Rudders 2010. Ph.D. (I mentored David during the final year of his work including the writing based on years of work after his major professor William DuPaul retired in 2009). Incorporating industry based dredge surveys into the assessment of the sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus

Stefanie Gera. 2010. M.S. Egg Capsule Hatching Success in Rapana venosa and Urosalpinx  cinerea  in Relation to Temperature and Salinity.

Emily Chandler, 2007. M.S. Genetically monomorphic invasive populations of the rapa whelk, Rapana venosa.

Adriana Picariello 2006. M.S. The effects of climate change on the population biology of the surf clam, Spisula solidissima, in the Middle Atlantic Bight.

Elizabeth Darrow  (co-chair with Mark Luckenbach,). 2004 M.S. Ecological energetics of the hard clam.

Doolittle, Daniel. (co-chair with Mark Patterson). 2003. M.S. Development of a method for the identification and quantification of biological targets detected by sidescan sonar

Catherine Ware, 2002. M.S. Temporal and spatial variation in reproductive output of the veined rapa whelk (Rapana venosa) in the Chesapeake Bay.

Arminda Gensler. (co-chair with John Graves). 2001, M.S. Genetic Investigations of Interspecific and Intraspecific Relationships within the Genus Rapana.

Erica Westcott, 2001. M.S. Seasonal reproductive activity of the invading gastropod Rapana venosa in the Chesapeake Bay

Rebecca Green, 2001. M.S. Morphological variation of three populations of the Veined Rapa Whelk, Rapana venosa, an invasive predatory gastropod species.

Juliana M. Harding.  2000. Ph.D. Ecological interactions between benthic oyster reef fishes and oysters.

Ian Bartol. 1999. (co chair with Mark Patterson) Ph.D. Swimming Physiology of the Brief Squid, Lolliguncula brevis.

Melissa Southworth, 1998. M.A. Oyster Reef Broodstock Enhancement in the Great Wicomico River, Virginia

Sandra Brooke, 1996, M.A.  A comparison of natural and laboratory diets for the culture of marine invertebrate larvae: American Oyster, Queen Conch, and Milk Conch.

Elizabeth Keane - Shea, M.A. 1995 (co-chair with Mike Vecchione, Systematics Laboratory, National Museum, Smithsonian.)  The early life histories of three families of cephalopods, and an examination of the concept of a paralarvae. 

Ian Bartol, 1995, M.A.   Crassostrea virginica on constructed intertidal oyster reefs: Effects of tidal height and substrate level on settlement, growth and mortality. 

Patrick K. Baker, 1994, Ph.D.  Quantification of settlement and recruitment processes in bivalve molluscs. 

Shirley M. Baker, 1994, Ph.D.  Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) metamorphosis - Effects of low oxygen.

Robert A. Blaylock, 1992. Ph.D. Distribution, abundance and behavior of the Cownose Ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, in Lower Chesapeake Bay.

L. L. Castell, 1991, M.A.  Assessment of larval physiological condition using fluorescent, lipid specific stains.

G. Curtis Roegner, 1990, M.A.  Recruitment and growth of juvenile Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) in relation to tidal zonation.

Kevin McCarthy, 1990, M.A.  The influence of swimming behavior of larval Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin).

Carrollyn Cox, 1988, M.A.  Seasonal changes in the fecundity of oysters Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) from four oyster reefs in the James River, Virginia.

Bernardita Campos, 1988, M.A.  Swimming response of larvae of three mactrid bivalves to different salinity gradients.

David Eggleston, 1988, M.A.  Predator-prey dynamics between the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, and juvenile oysters, Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin).

Ellen Pafford, 1988, M.A.  Distribution and taxonomy of endolithic algae occurring in the shells of Crassostrea virginica in the lower James River, Virginia.

Current Students

Alexandria Marquardt. PhD candidate in progress. Dynamics of oyster populations.

Kaitlyn Clark. PhD candidate in progress, co-mentor with David Rudders. Density dependent growth in the scallop Placopecten magellanicus.

Courses Taught/Teaching
  • Malacology, Larval Ecology, Biological Invasions