Faculty

Thomas J. Whitmore

Associate Professor 

twhitmore

CONTACT
St. Petersburg campus
Phone: (727) 873-4008

Email: whitmore@usf.edu

Specialty Area Recent Publications

Ecology & Evolution, Limnology, Quantitative Biology

Research Key Words: Historical ecology, limnology, paleolimnology, aquatic plants, diatoms

 Thomas Whitmore

TEACHING
Limnology: Florida has 8000 lakes

Florida Ecosystems: the state has diverse natural resources

Plant Taxonomy: supports studies of ecology and conservation

RESEARCH
I studied with Edward S. Deevey, Jr., and was influenced by Ed and others in the G. Evelyn Hutchinson lineage. I focus on quantitative, community and ecosystem-level questions in freshwater systems. I am a historical ecologist and paleolimnologist who has worked for 40 years on lakes of Florida, Yunnan Province China, and in the Yucatan.

My research has addressed climatic and human influences on lake systems, as well as human-mediated soil erosion in watersheds of southwest China, sediment distribution in shallow wind-stressed lakes, mixing processes and redox in stratified warm-monomictic lakes, water quality and sediment geochemistry in Yunnan lakes, anthropogenic alkalization of Florida lakes, and contaminants in lake and estuarine sediments.

My work has helped influence statutes that define appropriate nutrient criteria standards for lakes in the state of Florida, and it has helped resolve federal lawsuits of the U.S. EPA. My recent work has addressed diatom and cyanobacterial community dynamics during eutrophication of shallow lakes, historical changes in aquatic plant communities as assessed by biological evidence and stable isotopes, and paleohydrological changes in headwater lakes of the Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades system of Florida.

I served as Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Paleolimnology from 2008 to 2022, and I currently serve on the Executive Committee of the International Paleolimnology Association. In 1995, I founded the listservice that is used by the Association, and I continue to serve as moderator for more than 800 subscribers.