William (Bill) T. Peterson (1942–2017)

Bill Peterson died at his home in Newport, OR on 12 August 2017 after a long battle with cancer. A native of Vancouver, WA, Bill graduated with a degree in Biology from Pacific Lutheran University and earned a Master's degree in Biological Oceanography from the University of Hawaii. For his PhD, Bill studied under Charlie Miller at Oregon State, graduating in 1980. His dissertation focused on the life history of the copepod Calanus marshallae and its persistence in the Oregon coastal upwelling system. After graduate school, Bill joined the faculty of the State University of New York at Stony Brook as an Assistant Professor (1980–1987). He later worked as a Senior Research Officer at the University of Cape Town and the Sea Fisheries Research Institute in South Africa (1987–1990). In 1990, he returned to the US and spent the rest of his career at NOAA. He served in many different capacities at the agency, including as Program Manager for U.S. GLOBEC, and Director of the U.S. GLOBEC Interagency Program Coordination Office. Starting in 1995, he worked at the National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Newport Field Station. Most recently, he was involved in studies aimed at understanding how climate and other factors could be used to predict salmon populations. He was awarded a Distinguished Career Award by NOAA and three times (2004, 2005, 2008) won a NOAA Bronze Award. Bill also held an Adjunct Professor appointment at Oregon State University and an honorary Professorship at Ocean University of China in Qindao. He was an important contributor to many professional groups, especially the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (aka PICES), helping to organize numerous international meetings. Bill made many significant contributions to plankton ecology. He was especially interested in the role of physical processes interacting with life histories of copepods to determine species composition, distributions, growth rates, and mortality. He studied tidal mixing fronts in Long Island Sound, and upwelling systems of Oregon, South Africa, and Chile. He inspired many graduate students and eager undergraduates and we can attest that he gave every one of us just enough leash to explore our own ideas while always being there as intellectual backup if we lost our way. Bill was committed to experimental plankton ecology and seemed happiest sorting copepods for experiments on feeding or egg production “in situ” on a rocking outboard skiff. Bill is survived by his wife Mary, and sons Seth and Paul. Bill's ashes were spread at sea off Oregon. A celebration of his life took place at the Hatfield Marine station, Newport, Oregon on October 14. A special volume of the journal Progress in Oceanography in Bill's honor is planned for 2018. Bill will be sorely missed by his many colleagues around the world, and the many students and early career scientists he trained and mentored.

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