R. Scott Warren
Professor Warren retired from Connecticut College in 2007.
He is an outspoken advocate of wetland and tidal marsh preservation, has focused his research primarily on the wetlands and marshes of New England.
Most recently, he has been concentrating in four interrelated areas: the physiological ecology of tidal salt marsh angiosperms, particularly whole plant and cellular mechanisms of salt tolerance, general vegetation ecology of tidal wetlands with particular emphasis on environmental factors influencing species distribution and vegetational change, the influence of sea-level rise on coastal wetlands and tidal marsh restoration. His expertise was put to work in the classes "Plant Physiology" and in much of his field work.
In 2004, Professor Warren and Paul Fell, Katherine Blunt Professor Emeritus of Zoology, received two grants from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and The Nature Conservancy to evaluate efforts at reducing the spread of Phragmites and enhancing the natural habitat in the Lower Connecticut River Estuary – including Great Island, Upper Island and the Lieutenant River.
Warren has published extensively on wetlands and marshes, including "Biotic changes in tidal marshes: sea-level rise and restoration" with Professors Fell and Niering in Proceedings of the 1st Long Island Sound Research Conference and "Sea level rise and vegetation change on a northeast United States tidal marsh" with Niering in Ecology (1993). He has also made many presentations at conferences, including "Biotic changes at the Barn Island tidal marshes (Stonington, CT): sea-level rise and restoration" with Niering at the Long Island Sound Research Conference in 1992, "Coastal wetland vulnerabilities to climate change," an invited platform presentation and abstraction for a workshop titled "Managing Wetlands in a Changing Environment," sponsored by the Office of Technology Assessment in Washington, D.C. in 1992, and "Biotic changes in tidal marshes: sea-level rise and restoration" at the First Long Island Sound Research Conference, sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Warren is the recipient of numerous research grants and contracts for his work with wetlands and tidal marshes including one from the Conservation Biology Grant Program from the Connecticut Chapter of the Nature Conservancy for "Phragmites australis Invasion and Spread in the Tidal Wetlands of the Lower Connecticut River" in 1993, two from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi State University for "Functional Assessment of Tidal Wetlands: Level 1 Testing in New England - Parts 1 & 2" in 1992-94, one from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for "Tidal Marsh Restoration at Mumford Cove, Connecticut: Assessment of the First Two Years" in 1991-92, and one from the State Of Connecticut's Long Island Sound Research Fund for his work with Professors Niering and Fell for "Biotic Change in Tidal Marshes: Sea Level Rise and Restoration."
Warren was honored by Defiance College in the Fall of 2002 as the recipient of the 2002 Alumni Citation for Academic Excellence presented by the Defiance College Alumni Association. Dr. Warren received the award during Defiance College Homecoming festivities. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1965 from Defiance College where he majored in biology with a minor in chemistry.
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