Rebecca Sharitz
{{Short description|Professor}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Rebecca Sharitz
| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|08|10|df=yes}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|10|20|1944|08|10|df=yes}}
| nationality = American
| spouse = Carl Byrne Hatfield
| awards = National Wetlands Award in Science Research, Environmental Law Institute (2010)
Fellow Award, Society of Wetland Scientists (2008)
| education = University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (PhD)
Roanoke College (B.S.)
| doctoral_advisor = Frank McCormick
| discipline = Ecology
| sub_discipline = Wetland ecology
| workplaces = Saginaw Valley State University (1970-71)
University of Georgia (1972-2018)
| birth_place = Wytheville, Virginia
}}
Rebecca R. Sharitz (1944-2018) was an emeritus professor at the University of Georgia who spent the majority of her career as a senior researcher in the UGA's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Rebecca R. Sharitz {{!}} Department of Plant Biology |url=https://www.plantbio.uga.edu/directory/people/rebecca-r-sharitz |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=University of Georgia}}{{Cite web |last=Pederson |first=Neil |date=2019-02-15 |title=Deep Ecology with Becky: A remembrance of Dr. Rebecca Sharitz |url=https://www.esa.org/history/2019/02/deep-ecology-remembering-becky-sharitz/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327111710/https://www.esa.org/history/2019/02/deep-ecology-remembering-becky-sharitz/ |archive-date=2023-03-27 |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=Broadleaf Papers |language=en-US |via=Ecological Society of America}} Her research centered on wetlands and their ecological functions with a focus on river floodplains, swamp forests, and Carolina Bays.
Early life and education
Rebecca Sharitz was born in Wytheville, Virginia. In 1966, she received her B.S. in Botany at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia.{{Cite web |last=Battaglia |first=Loretta |date=January 2019 |title=In memoriam: Dr. Rebecca Reyburn Sharitz |url=https://friendsofcongaree.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Rebecca-Sharitz-Wetlands-Science-Practice-tribute.pdf |website=Friends of Congaree National Park |publisher=Wetland Science & Practice}} She continued her education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill completing her Ph.D. in Ecology in 1970.
Career and research
Sharitz began her career as an Assistant Professor of Biology at Saginaw Valley State University (1970-71), but the majority of her professional life was spent working at the University of Georgia (1972-2018). In addition to her role as a research ecologist in the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, she also served as a professor of Botany, Plant Biology, and Ecology while at the University of Georgia.{{Cite web |last=Gavrilles |first=Beth |date=2020-05-05 |title=Fellowship honors late Prof. Emerita Rebecca Sharitz |url=https://news.uga.edu/rebecca-sharitz-srel-fellowship/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=UGA Today |language=en-US}}
Sharitz researched ecological processes in wetlands focusing predominantly on wetlands in the southeastern U.S. Her long research career included investigations of wetland responses to natural and anthropogenic disturbances, like thermal pollution, as well as work on the restoration of degraded wetlands and the conservation of rare species. Some notable findings in Sharitz's research were the discoveries of links between wetland forest regeneration and flooding due to storm events, dam alterations, and hydrologic discharge from nuclear reactors.{{Cite journal |last1=Palta |first1=Monica M. |last2=Doyle |first2=Thomas W. |last3=Jackson |first3=C. Rhett |last4=Meyer |first4=Judy L. |last5=Sharitz |first5=Rebecca R. |date=2012 |title=Changes in Diameter Growth of Taxodium distichum in Response to Flow Alterations in the Savannah River |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13157-011-0245-9 |journal=Wetlands |language=en |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=59–71 |doi=10.1007/s13157-011-0245-9 |s2cid=256038220 |issn=0277-5212}} Specifically, regeneration was reduced after such events, such as with Taxodium distichum having reduced growth after hydrologic disruptions from dam alterations{{Cite journal |last1=De Steven |first1=Diane |last2=Sharitz |first2=Rebecca R. |date=1997 |title=Differential recovery of a deepwater swamp forest across a gradient of disturbance intensity |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/BF03161513 |journal=Wetlands |language=en |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=476–484 |doi=10.1007/BF03161513 |s2cid=18796178 |issn=0277-5212}} as well as reduced diversity in tree species of the Congaree Swamp due to hurricane damages.{{Cite journal |last1=Putz |first1=Francis E. |last2=Sharitz |first2=Rebecca R. |date=1991 |title=Hurricane damage to old-growth forest in Congaree Swamp National Monument, South Carolina, U.S.A. |url=http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/10.1139/x91-244 |journal=Canadian Journal of Forest Research |language=en |volume=21 |issue=12 |pages=1765–1770 |doi=10.1139/x91-244 |issn=0045-5067}}
During her time as a professor, she oversaw over 100 volunteers, 30 graduate students, and 13 postdoctoral fellows.
= Honors & awards =
Throughout her career, Sharitz received various awards and recognitions for her research and teaching. Notable honors and awards are listed below:
- National Wetlands Award in Science Research, Environmental Law Institute (2010){{Cite web |first= |date=2010 |title=National Wetlands Awards: Rebecca Sharitz |url=https://www.eli.org/national-wetlands-awards/rebecca-sharitz |access-date=2023-03-28 |website=Environmental Law Institute}}
- Fellow Award, Society of Wetland Scientists (2008){{Cite web |date=2008 |title=Society Awards |url=https://www.sws.org/society-awards/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=Society of Wetland Scientists |language=en-US}}
- Vice President, International Association for Ecology (2002-05){{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.intecol.net/pages/s001_02_1.html |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=INTECOL}}
- Committee Member, National Academy of Sciences Committee on Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem (1999){{Cite web |date=1999-09-24 |title=Everglades Science Review Panel |url=https://www.newswise.com/articles/everglades-science-review-panel |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=Newswise |publisher=US Newswire |language=en}}
- Meritorious Teaching Award, Association of Southeastern Biologists (1997)
- Vice President, Ecological Society of America (1990-91){{Cite web |title=Vice-Presidents |url=https://www.esa.org/history/2014/02/vice-presidents/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=Ecological Society of America}}
- President, Association of Southeastern Biologists (1987){{Cite web |title=ABS Elected Officers |url=https://www.sebiologists.org/officers.html#:~:text=1987-,Rebecca%20R.%20Sharitz,-Savannah%20River%20Ecology |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=Association of Southeastern Biologists |language=en}}
Posthumously, Sharitz's family developed a fellowship to honor Sharitz and her late husband Carl Byrne Hatfield, who worked at the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site. The Dr. Rebecca Reyburn Sharitz and Carl Byrne Hatfield Fellowship Fund{{Cite web |title=Graduate Awards and Scholarships |url=https://www.ecology.uga.edu/awards-and-scholarships/ |access-date=2023-04-20 |website=Odum School of Ecology |language=en}} provides financial support to PhD candidates at the University of Georgia focused on ecology or plant biology.
= Selected publications =
- {{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/892239067 |title=Ecology of freshwater and estuarine wetlands |date=2014 |others=Darold P. Batzer, Rebecca R. Sharitz |isbn=978-0-520-95911-8 |edition=2nd |location=Oakland, California |oclc=892239067}}
- {{Cite journal |last1=King |first1=Sammy L. |last2=Sharitz |first2=Rebecca R. |last3=Groninger |first3=John W. |last4=Battaglia |first4=Loretta L. |date=2009 |title=The ecology, restoration, and management of southeastern floodplain ecosystems: A synthesis |url=https://doi.org/10.1672/08-223.1 |journal=Wetlands |language=en |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=624–634 |doi=10.1672/08-223.1 |s2cid=25051504 |issn=1943-6246}}
- {{Cite journal |last=Sharitz |first=Rebecca R. |date=2003-09-01 |title=Carolina bay wetlands: Unique habitats of the southeastern United States |url=https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2003)023[0550:CBWUHO]2.0.CO;2 |journal=Wetlands |language=en |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=550–562 |doi=10.1672/0277-5212(2003)023[0550:CBWUHO]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=19954348 |issn=1943-6246}}
- De Steven, Diane, & Sharitz, Rebecca R. (1997). "Differential recovery of a deepwater swamp forest across a gradient of disturbance intensity". Wetlands. 17 (4): 476–484. doi.org/10.1007/BF03161513.
- Putz, Francis E., & Sharitz, Rebecca R. (1991). "Hurricane damage to old-growth forest in Congaree Swamp National Monument, South Carolina, U.S.A." Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 21 (12): 1765–1770. doi.org/10.1139/x91-244.
References
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Category:University of Georgia faculty
Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Category:Roanoke College alumni
Category:People from Wytheville, Virginia
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