Dr. Richard Whitman
Our Director

Dr. Whitman is a recognized expert on shoreline ecology and recreational water quality. He has written over 150 peer reviewed scientific and technical publications which have been cited in nearly 7000 times in professional publications. Dr. Whitman began his career at NASA in spacecraft sanitation, taught ecology at Indiana University (NW) for 9 years before being appointed as the Chief Scientist for Indiana Dunes National Park.  Richard served as manager for the Lake Michigan Ecological Research Station, United States Geological Survey, from 1993 to 2011. He is presently Director of Heal Our Harbor, a 501c3 organization and the state Science Officer for the Florida Democratic Environmental Caucus.  He lives with his wife, Dianna, in Port Charlotte, FL.

Heal Our Harbor: Past, Present, and its Potential

Charlotte Harbor represents one of the most complex estuaries in the state strongly influenced by land use, hydrological/meteorological disturbances, modified drainage, watershed damage, tidal action and internal processes.  The ecological fitness, potential of Charlotte Harbor and the environmental services the harbor provides is highly dependent on a properly functioning and balanced ecosystem.  Our local estuary and its inhabitants are well adapted to changes in this continuously changing habitat but there are limits to their tolerance.  These daily and seasonal cycles help make Charlotte Harbor a unique resource as well as a refuge for many plants and animals.  Human misuse, perturbations, and related stressors such as climate change may have already pushed those tolerable limits.  We will discuss what we can do as a community to return and sustain Charlotte Harbor to the healthy state it could be. Contact: richard.whitman@healourharbor.org