Posted by JR Gordon on January 10, 2001 at 07:20:59:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/wed/index.html
By Jack Williams
STAFF WRITER
January 10, 2001
Until the third grade, Mia Jean Tegner wanted to be a firefighter.
But instead of fighting forest fires, she wound up researching undersea kelp forests as an internationally recognized marine biologist at UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Dr. Tegner, 53, died Sunday while scuba diving off Mission Beach with her husband, Eric Hanauer, and friends.
"Mia dedicated more than 25 years of work to the ecology of kelp beds off Point Loma, and she developed a new and deep appreciation of this delicate, undersea rain forest," said Charles F. Kennel, director of Scripps. "The ocean world has lost a treasure."
In 31 years at Scripps, Dr. Tegner made more than 4,000 dives throughout the world. She died while exploring sunken ships off Mission Beach. Her body was found by a scuba recovery team on the ocean floor, 90 feet from the surface, investigators said.
Dr. Tegner's research projects included sea urchin natural history and population dynamics, the ecology and restoration of abalone populations in Southern California, and the effects of disturbances and climate change on kelp communities.
Since 1992, she had measured the effects of sewage from the San Diego waste-water treatment plant on local marine life. She was credited with helping the city of San Diego avoid spending $3 billion to upgrade its ailing sewage system and provided information to the state that was instrumental in the maintenance of state fisheries.
Dr. Tegner, a University City resident, was born in Santa Monica. She decided on a career in science after abandoning her childhood visions of becoming a firefighter.
In 1969, after earning a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of California San Diego, she joined Scripps as a marine microbiology trainee.
She earned a doctorate in 1974 at Scripps in marine biology and concentrated her post-doctoral research on the field ecology of sea urchins.
In 1983, Dr. Tegner began studying El Niņo and its effect on kelp beds. Her latest research included studies of El Niņo and La Niņa and their impact on the plants and animals of the kelp ecosystem.
One project looked at the effect of warm water on the reproduction of abalone and incorporating environmental variation into the management of fisheries.
In August, Dr. Tegner and colleagues Paul Dayton, Peter Edwards and Kristin Riser received the prestigious Cooper Ecology Award.
In announcing the award, the Ecological Society of America credited Dr. Tegner and her colleagues with addressing "fundamental questions about sustainability of communities in the face of disturbance along environmental gradients."
In 1998, Dr. Tegner received a fellowship in the Pew Fellow Program in Marine Conservation to develop an ecosystem approach to fisheries management for kelp forest species that takes into account the changing environment.
Additional honors included the 1998 Conservation Award from the Sonoma County Abalone Network and the 1986 UCSD Distinguished Alumna of the Year award.
Dr. Tegner was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her memberships included the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the International Abalone Society, the National Shellfish Association, the Southern California Academy of Sciences and the Western Society of Naturalists.
Survivors include her husband, Eric Hanauer; a daughter, Sandi Hanauer of Costa Mesa; her parents, Oly and Allie Tegner of Palos Verdes; and a sister, Lars Palsson of Palos Verdes.
A memorial service is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday at the Birch Aquarium, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Donations are suggested to Scripps Institution of Oceanography to support kelp forest research.
For more information, contact the Development Office, Scripps Institution of Oceanography: (858) 822-1865.