Paul T. Arena

From a very early age Dr. Arena was intrigued by the natural world. Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y. one might think there were limited opportunities to observe and study nature. However, his small concrete yard had an edge of plantings his great grandmother maintained and this provided enough habitat to sustain a small arthropod community. He was fascinated by these bugs and often collected and fed them. Dr. Arena was amazed how each organism survived and he learned all he could about the interactions they had with each other. His passion for terrestrial ecology then developed into an interest in the marine world during college. He wanted to be the first person to successfully keep a Great White Shark in captivity. Although Dr. Arena never realized that dream, he was fortunate enough to immerse myself in the South Florida marine environment during graduate school while studying reef fish assemblages. After getting the bends several times in the last decade, he currently has broadened his scope to include terrestrial ecology and the use of novel technologies (ROVs – Remotely Operated Vehicles) to monitor marine communities.