A. Marshall Pregnall

Associate Professor of Biology and Chair

Olmsted Hall Room 217
Phone: 845-437-7416
Fax 845-437-7315

Ph. D. 1983 Department of Biology, University of Eugene, Oregon
B. A. 1978 cum laude, Amherst College

Research interests

Dr. Pregnall's research addresses how coastal macrophytes, such as seagrasses and macroalgae, assimilate inorganic nitrogen for growth in the context of predictable variations, such as seasonal shifts in temperature and day length, and of unpredictable ones, such as episodes of hypoxia and anoxia. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He has served as President of the New England Estuarine Research Society and on the governing board of the Estuarine Research Federation.

Teaching interests

He has taught in the Biology Department at Vassar College since 1986, and is also a faculty member in the Environmental Studies program. Recent courses include Aquatic Ecology, Plant Physiology, Biology of Salmon: Salt, Sex and Death, Essentials of Environmental Science, and History of Global Climate Change. He also occasionally teaches SCUBA at Vassar and summer field courses on estuaries and wetlands at the University of Oregon's Institute of Marine Biology.

Selected Publications

Pousty, S. I.* & A. M. Pregnall (revised manuscript in review) Photosynthesis and growth of intertidal surfgrasses (Phyllospadix spp.) from the Oregon USA coast. Marine Biology.
Pregnall, A. M. (2004) Effects of aerobic versus anoxic conditions on root glutamine synthetase activity in eelgrass (Zostera marina L.): regulation of ammonium assimilation potential. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 311:11-24.
Pregnall, A. M. (1994) Teaching about diving at altitude: a simple, graphic approach to making sense of dive table and bourdon-tube gauge conversions. Proceedings of the International Conference on Underwater Education, 107-112.
Pregnall, A. M. (1991) Photosynthesis. In: PEW Undergraduate Laboratories in Biology: A Collection of Introductory Experiments in Cellular and Molecular Biology, edited by K. Heston. Pew Science Program, Haverford, PA.
Pregnall, A. M. (1991) Photosynthesis and translocation in marine ecosystems. pp. 53-75 in: Carbon Isotope Techniques in Biological Sciences, edited by D. C. Coleman & B. Fry. Academic Press, San Diego.

* student author