Paraglossum amsleri. Both images by Bill Baker.Dr. Max Hommersand of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Dr. Showe-Mei Lin of the Institute of Marine Biology at the National Taiwan Ocean University have published a paper in “Phycologia,” a scientific journal of the International Phycological Society, announcing that an algae species from Antarctica previously known as Delesseria lancifolia will now be called Paraglossum amsleri (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta) in honor of UAB Biology Professor Dr. Charles Amsler. Dr. Amsler is well known for his contributions to the marine algal ecology of the Antarctic Peninsula.

As Dr. Amsler points out, his lab collects material for algal taxonomists, particularly for Dr. Hommersand. “Dr. Hommersand and other algal taxonomists help us a great deal with identifying the species we are studying ecologically, and Paraglossum amsleri is just one of quite a few algal species I’ve sent to him and to others for their own studies," Dr. Amsler says.

“They help us and we help them. This is one species Dr. Hommersand was particularly interested in, and one in which I put a fair bit of extra effort to get him enough specimens at multiple stages of development. So while it is not uncommon for algal species to be named in honor of established algal biologists, I was particularly pleased that he and his fellow author Showe-Mei Lin chose to name it after me.”

Dr. Amsler started working on marine algal ecology of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1989 and has made it the focus of his work since 2000. Of his 18 Antarctic expeditions to date, 12 have been to Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula. Dr. Amsler departs again for Palmer Station in mid-February 2016, and will return for two more expeditions funded by the National Science Foundation in February 2017 and February 2018.