Peter Burn, PhD

Research Interests

• Characterization and comparison of New England barrier island and salt marsh habitats
• Uses of hypermedia in research and education

Employment History

• 1996-present
  Professor of Biology, Suffolk University
• 1989-1998
  Consultant in Radiology (non-clinical), Massachusetts General Hospital
• 1989-1996
  Associate Professor of Biology, Suffolk University
• 1982-1989
  Assistant Professor of Biology, Suffolk University
• 1978-1981
  Jessie Smith Noyes Post-doctoral Fellow, Osborn Laboratories of Marine Science, New York Zoological Society

Selected Publications

• Perez, K., E. Davey, R.H. Moore, P.R. Burn, M. Rosol, D. Kopans. 1999. Application of Computer-Aided Tomography (CT) Scanning to the study of Benthic Estuarine Communities. Ecological Applications 9(3): 1050-1058
• Burn, P.R., M.S. Potts, R.H. Moore, A.J. Fischman, H.W. Strauss. 1993. Tissue Distribution and and Excretion of 99mTc-Disofenin in three marine Species: Pleuronectes americanus (winter flounder), Homarus americanus (lobster), and Mya arenaria (soft-shell clam). Mar Biol 116: 355-361.

Recent Oral Presentations

• Burn, P.R. 2005. Spanning Biogeographic Provinces and Plant Hardiness Zones: Observations on the Species Composition of Coatue (Nantucket), Sandy Neck (Barnstable), and Plum Island (Newburyport) Barrier Beaches. Presented at the Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative Conference. September 24, 2005.
• Burn, P.R. 2006. Plum Island and the Great Marsh – Biology and Geology, Past, Present and Future. Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Biodiversity Lecture Series. June 14, 2006.

Professional Activities

• 1995-present
  President, Marine Studies Consortium
• 1990-2002
  MA EOEA Coastal Resources Advisory Board
• 1985-present
  Coordinator, Suffolk University Marine Science Program

Other Activities

• 1982-present
  President, SuAsCo Watershed Association
• 2000-present
  SuAsCo Watershed Community Council, Executive Committee
• 2002-present
  Sudbury Assabet Concord Wild and Scenic Rivers Stewardship Council

Current Grant Support

Contract support from the NSF funded Electronic Field Guide Project with Rob Stevenson and Bob Morris of UMass Boston. In conjunction with this grant, my students and I have prepared Electronic Field Guides for the Shrubs, Trees and Flowers of the Plum Island (Newburyport, MA) barrier beach. Other EFGs are in progress. The basis for these EFGs is a hierarchically arranged, 36,000 digital image catalogue of the flora and fauna of Plum Island.