Alan Young


Professional Details

Title Professor Emeritus
Department Biology
Office Meier Hall 538D
Phone 978.542.6710
Email alan.young@salemstate.edu
Website http://w3.salemstate.edu/~ayoung
Photo of Alan Young

Recent and Upcoming Courses

BIO 706 Estuarine Ecology

Professional Biography

 Director of Salem Sound Coastwatch (SSCW) President 2006-2017

 Historian for New England Estuarine Research Society (NEERS)

Education

PhD Marine Science (Biology emphasis)1978,University of South Carolina,Columbia,SC
 Dissertation title: Physiological Ecology of Hermit Crab Species
   Advisor: Dr. Winona B. Vernberg

MS Marine Science (Biology emphasis) 1975, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
  Thesis title: Physiological Ecology of Three Species of Hermit Crab -- Clibanarius   vittatus, Pagurus pollicaris and P. longicarpus (Crustacea: Decapoda; Anomura)
   Advisor: Dr. Winona B. Vernberg

BS Biology 1974 Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts


Teaching Positions

Salem State University, Salem, Massachusetts (September 1991 - present)
  Professor of Biology / Retired August 2019
  Courses taught: Intro Bio I & II; Honors Biology--Organisms; Honors Biology--Cells; General Ecology; Biological Oceanography; Environmental Problems; Invertebrate Zoology Laboratory; Seminar--Symbiosis in the Sea; Biology Senior Seminar; Estuarine Ecology

Stockton State College, Pomona, New Jersey (September 1990 - June 1991)
  Visiting Associate Professor of Marine Science (one year sabbatical replacement)
  Courses taught: Survey of Marine Life; Organisms and Evolution

Hamilton College, Clinton, New York  (September 1988 - June 1989)
  Visiting Associate Professor of Biology (one year sabbatical replacement)
  Courses taught: Invertebrate Zoology; Principles of Biology

Bates College, Lewiston, Maine  (September 1987 - June 1988)
  Visiting Associate Professor of Biology (one year sabbatical replacement)
 Courses taught: Invertebrate Zoology; Biological Principles; Marine Ecology; Oceanography

Nasson College, Springvale, Maine  (September 1978 - May 1983)
  Associate Professor of Biology
 Courses taught: Zoology; Invertebrate Zoology;  Animal Physiology; Physiological Ecology; Oceanography; Physical  Geology

Professional Interests

 Research Interests:

 Physiology and population dynamics of European green crabs

Marine Plastic Debris

Salt marsh ecology and restoration

Salem State Student Research Projects Supervised:

2019 "Effectiveness of Green Crab Larvae Exclusion Boxes on Soft-shell Clam Recruitment" - Brett Davekos 

2019 "Survey of Green Crabs and Asian Shore Crabs at Chandler Hovey Park, Marblehead and Pavillion Beach, Ipswich" - Connor Morey & Chris Mulligan

2017 "Seasonal Variation in Relative Abundance of Plankton Taxa" - Max Voci

2015 “Using Hormones and Ventral Coloration to Anticipate Ecdysis in Green Crabs” -- James Elliott

2014 “Survey of Green Crabs in Salem Sound, Massachusetts” – James Elliott

2013 “Ecological Health Assessment of Salem Sound Via Bird Census Data” -- Timothy Kasprzyk

  2011 "Development of Soil Litter Invertebrates Study Procedure" - Ann Nichols 

  2009 "Analysis of three Years of Pickman Park Restoration Data" - Richard Theberge

  2008 "Monitoring of Forest River Salt Marsh Restoration" - Christopher Cataldo
  2008 "GPS Survey of Trees Felled by 2007 Fire in Salem Woods" - Shirley Milfort & Joey Mistretta
  2007 "Monitoring Pickman Park Salt Marsh Restoration" - James Style & Harold Bell
  2007 "Collection, Identification, & Illustration of Interstitial Meiofauna" - James Style
  2007 "Monitoring a Salt Marsh Restoration Project in the Forest River Estuary"- James  Courtemanche
  2006 "GPS Survey of Phragmites australis in the Forest River Estuary" --  Ryan Gagne &   Meagan St. Pierre
  2005 "Monitoring of Forest River Salt Marsh Restoration" -- James Courtmanche
  2004 "Collection of Plankton Samples in Broad Sound" - Eric Navarro
  2004 "Assessment of Phragmites australis reccurrence at Forest River Estuary and Pickman Park"    - Jason Tenney
  1998 "Planktonic Cycles in the Forest River Estuary" -- Kimberly Hebert
  1998 "Ecological Survey of Sevenspine Bay Shrimp, Crangon septemspinosa, in Salem Sound" -- Edward Jude  O'Dochartaigh
  1998 "Forest River Estuarine Plant Survey" -- Kevin Maloney
  1998 "Survey of Invertebrates Collected in Salem Sound During Beach Seinings and Fish Trawls" -- James Malavich
  1998 "Survey of Seaweeds in Salem Sound" -- Maribeth Reynolds & Rebecca Stacy
  1998 "Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries Phytoplankton Monitoring Program: Manchester, Gloucester, Essex and Newburyport Testing Sites" -- Vivian Kooken & Patricia Resendiz
   1998 "Study of Vernal Pool at Gallows Hill Park" -- Rebecca Stacy & Herb Stillman
   1997 "SS2000 Shellfish Survey" -- Shane Harvey
   1997 "Forest River Estuarine Plant Survey" -- Kevin Maloney & Catherine Moshirfar
   1996 "Vernal Pool Insects Study" -- Mark Trial
   1996 "Plankton Survey" -- Maurice Small
   1996 "Marine Department of Marine Resources internship" -- Amy Horton
   1996 "Whale Conservation Institute internship" -- Tracy Taylor
   1995 "Vernal Pool Study" -- Kathleen Roberts, Joseph Capone & Mark Trial
   1995 "SEM Study of Hermit Crab Appendages" -- Christina Poitras (w/ M. Fregeau)
   1993 "Survey of Boundary and Trails in Salem Woods" -- Russell Almstrom

  Salem State Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters Sponsored:

   2016 -- “Effects of Trap Dimensions, Bait Type, and Water Depth on Green Crab (Carcinus maenas) Catch per Unit Effort" -- Alex V. Cintolo & James A. Elliott

2015 -- “A New Outlook to Solve an Old Problem: Using Hormones and Ventral Coloration to Anticipate Ecdysis in the European Green Crab (Carcinus maenas)” – James A. Elliott

2014 -- “Survey of Green Crabs in Salem Sound, Massachusetts” – James A. Elliott

2013 -- “Ecological Health Assessment of Salem Sound Via Bird Census Data” -- Timothy Kasprzyk

2010 -- Restoration of Native Flora and Eradication of Phragmites australis in Pickman Park Salt Marsh - Richard Theberge

   2009 - Evaluation of a Salt Marsh Restoration Project at Volunteer's Bridge in the Forest River Estuary" - Christopher Cataldo

   2009 - "Determination of Tree Kill in the September 2008 Salem Woods Fire" - Joseph Mistretta

   2007 -- "Monitoring a Salt Marsh Restoration Project in the Forest River Estuary" --  James Courtemanche

   2007 -- "GPS Survey of Phragmites australis in the Forest River Estuary"  --  Ryan Gagne & Meagan St. Pierre

Professional Organizations:

 The Crustacean Society (1980 - present)
 Friends of Salem Woods Board of Directors (1991- present)
 Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation (1974 - present)
 Marine Studies Consortium Executive Board(1994 - 2015)Vice-President(1997 - 2004)
 New England Estuarine Research Society(1978 - present)Executive Board(1999 - present)
 Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society (2002 - present) chapter Vice President (2004 - 2010)
 Salem Sound Coastwatch (1992 - present) Board of Directors (1999 - present) President (2006 - present)
 Society of Sigma Xi (1977 - present)

Scientific Conferences Organized Since 1991:

 2014 (New England Estuarine Research Society)  Salem Waterfront Hotel, Salem, MA

2011 (Salem Sound Coastwatch State of the Sound 20th Anniversary Symposium) Endicott College, Beverly, MA & Salem State University, Salem, MA

2009 (New England Estuarine Research Society) Salem Waterfront Hotel, Salem, MA

 2001 (New England Estuarine Research Society) Salem State College, Salem, MA
 1994 (New England Estuarine Research Society) Salem State College, Salem, MA

Responsibilities

 

Salem State Committees & Positions: 
  Phi Kappa Phi Salem State Chapter Vice President (2004 - 2007, 2008 - 2010)
  Salem State University Earth Days Committee (2006 - present)
  Salem State University Curriculum Committee (1992- 1998) Secretary (1992 - 1996)
  Salem State University Liaison to Marine Studies Consortium (1996 - 2015)
  Sextant Editorial Board (1992-1995)
  Biology Dept Undergrad Curriculum Committee (1992- present) Chair (1997 - 2014)
  Biology Department Darwin Festival Committee (1992 - present)
  Coordinator of the Environmental Biology Program (1994 - 1997)
  Coordinator of the Marine Biology Program (1991- 2019)
  Biology Department Graduate Committee (1991- 2019)
  Biology Department Committee on Introductory Biology (1991- 2019)

 

Selected Publications

2020 Young, A.M. & J.A. Elliott. Life History and Population Dynamics of Green Crabs (Carcinus maenas). Fishes 5(1), 4. doi: 10.3390/fishes5010004

2017 Young, A.M., J.A. Elliott, J.M. Incatasciato & M.L. Taylor.  Seasonal Catch, Size, Color, and Assessment of Trapping Variables for the European Green Crab Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus, 1758) (Brachyura: Portunoidea: Carcinidae), a Nonindigenous Species in Massachusett, USA.  Journal of Crustacean Biology 37(5): 556-570 [doi:10.1093/jcbiol/rux068]

2016 Young, A.M. & J.A. Elliott. Characterization of Microplastic and Mesoplastic Debris in Sediments from Kamilo Beach and Kahuku Beach, Hawai'i.  Marine Pollution Bulletin 113: 477-482. [dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpollbul.2016.11.009]

2012 Young, A. M. The Dawn of Environmentalism -- Silent Spring (1962) Sextant 20 (1): 38-40.

2008 Goff, J. V. & A. M. Young. Nouveau France versus New England: 17th century conflicts in Naumkeag (ancient Salem) Sextant 16 (1): 12-20

2008 Young, A. M. The Great Fire of 2007 Woodwinds Spring 2008

2007 "Rock Formation at Balding Bay on Magnetic Island, Townsville, Australia" month of December 2007 photo in Salem State College Department of Foreign Languages International Photo Contest Calendar

2007 Young, A.M. ‘No Worries, Mate!' A Biologist's Sabbatical Down Under. Salem Statement Spring 07 pp. 18-19.

2007 Young, A.M. Salem Woods Nature Trail -- Trail Guide & Map (w/ Marcos Luna and Jen Sumael)

2003 Young, A.M. Comparison of Vegetation Diversity in Various Habitats within Salem Woods and Olde Salem Greens. 3 pp. (report prepared for the Friends of Salem Woods)

2002 Young, A.M. Salt Marsh Habitat Restoration Project. Woodwinds December, 2002

2002 Burke, C., R.Luecke & A. M. Young. The case against golf course expansion and for preservation of Salem Woods. 23 pp. (report prepared for the Salem City Council)

2002 Young, A.M., C. Torres, J.E. Mack & C.W. Cunningham. Morphological and genetic evidence for vicariance and refugium in Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico populations of the hermit crab Pagurus longicarpus. Marine Biology 140(5): 1059-1066.

1999 Young, A.M. NEERS 1969-1999: a brief history of the New England Estuarine Research Society.

1999 Young, A.M. T. R. Malthus, 1798: An Essay on the Principle of Population. Sextant 9(1): 2-6.

1996 Young, A.M. The great Salem Woods fire of 1995. Woodwinds May 1996.

1996 Young, A.M. C. Auguste Dupin, alias Sherlock Holmes. Sextant 6(2): 36-42.

1995 Young, A.M. Vernal pool update. Woodwinds April 1995.

1994 Young, A.M. Vernal pool. Woodwinds (newsletter of Friends of Salem Woods, Inc.) August 1994.

1991 Young, A.M. Temperature--salinity tolerances for two latitudinally separated populations of the longwrist hermit crab Pagurus longicarpus Say (Decapoda: Anomura; Paguridae). Ophelia 34(1): 29-39.

1980 Young, A.M. Temperature--salinity tolerances of three hermit crab species, Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc), Pagurus longicarpus Say and P. pollicaris Say (Crustacea: Decapoda; Anomura). Ophelia 19(1): 27-35.

1980 Lang, W.H. & A.M. Young. Larval development of Hypoconcha sabulosa (Decapoda: Dromiidae). Fishery Bulletin 77(4): 851-863.

1979 Young, A.M. Osmoregulation in larvae of the striped hermit crab Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc) (Decapoda: Anomura; Diogenidae). Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 9(5): 595-601.

1979 Young, A.M. Osmoregulation in three hermit crab species, Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc), Pagurus longicarpus Say and P. pollicaris Say (Crustacea: Decapoda; Anomura). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 63A(3): 377-382.

1979 Young, A.M. Differential utilization of gastropod shells by three hermit crab species in North Inlet, South Carolina, USA. Crustaceana Supplement 5: 101-104.

1978 Young, A.M. & T.L. Hazlett, III. The effect of salinity and temperature on the larval development of Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc) (Crustacea: Decapoda; Diogenidae). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 34(2): 131-141.

1978 Young, A.M. Physiological Ecology of Hermit Crab Species. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of South Carolina, Columbia, 94 pp.

1978 Young, A.M. "Decapoda" pp. 171-185 in An Annotated Checklist of the Biota of the Coastal Zone of South Carolina, ed. by R.G. Zingmark. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC.

1978 Young, A.M. Desiccation tolerances for three hermit crab species (Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc), Pagurus pollicaris Say and P. longicarpus Say) in the North Inlet estuary, South Carolina, USA. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science 6(1): 117-122.

1977 Lang, W.H. & A.M. Young. The larval development of Clibanarius vittatus (Bosc) (Crustacea: Decapoda; Diogenidae) reared in the laboratory. The Biological Bulletin 152(1): 84-104.

1976 Young, A.M. Desiccation tolerances of three hermit crab species. American Zoologist 16(2): 218.

1975 Young, A.M. Physiological Ecology of Three Species of Hermit Crab--Clibanarius vittatus, Pagurus pollicaris and P. longicarpus (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura). M.S. Thesis, University of South Carolina, Columbia, 48 pp.

Selected Presentations

Miscellaneous Presentations Since 1991:

2016 & 2017 (Salem State University; Sigma Xi; NEERS) "Characteristics of Plastic Particle Debris on Two Hawaiian Beaches"

2015 (Northeast Aquaculture Conference & Exposition) "Trapping Green Crabs (Carcinus maenas) in Salem Sound, Massachusetts"

2014 (NEERS) "Survey of Green Crabs (Carcinus maenas) in Salem Sound, Massachusetts"

2012 (Salem State University) "A Comparative Study of Phragmites Control Measures"

2012 (NEERS) "A Comparative Study of Phragmites Control Measures"

2011 (Salem State University) Honors Convocation Speaker

2011 (Salem Partnership) "Salem Sound Coastwatch"
2008 (Darwin Festival) "Travels Downunder: Unique Mammals and Birds of Australia & New Zealand"
2007 (Mass Ocean Coalition) Salem Sound Coastwatch activities
2007 (Goldthwait Reservation) Value of Salt Marshes (field trip / talk)
2007 (Salem State College) "Travels Downunder: My Visit to Australia and New Zealand 25 October - 4 December 2006"
2005 (SSC Open House) Biology Dept Co-Representative
2003 (Salem City Council) Salem Woods Preservation
2000 (NEERS) Allozyme Comparison of Hermit Crab Populations
2000 (Salem Conservation Commission) Forest River Tide Gates
1998 (NEERS) SEM Study of Hermit Crab Appendages (w/ Joseph Mack & Mark Fregeau)

Personal Interests

I enjoy playing volleyball, boating, fishing, and stamp collecting, as well as rooting for the Red Sox & Patriots.