Mark and Diane Littler

Washington, D.C., area

Smithsonian scientists, this husband-and-wife team have traveled around the world to investigate the structure and function of coral reefs, and the productivity and evolution of marine plants. The Littlers have published a color guidebook to Caribbean seaweeds and have earned a place in the Guiness Book of World Records for discovering the deepest plant life on earth--an alga in the Bahamas, flourishing 268 meters below the water's surface.

"Coral reefs are the marine equivalent of tropical rainforests, and we can study the animals without disturbing them."

Ocean Planet Exhibition Floorplan

gene carl feldman (gene@seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov) (301) 286-9428
Judith Gradwohl, Smithsonian Institution (Curator/Ocean Planet)