Paul J. Godfrey

Emeritus Professor

Photograph of First Last
Education: 

B.S., University of Connecticut, 1962
Ph.D., Duke University, 1969

Postdoctoral: 

1968-1970 National Park Service, Cape Lookout National Seashore, NC

Research Interests: 

Coastal Plant Ecology, Barrier Island Management, and Plant Geography

Graduate training and research over the past two decades have concerned adaptations of plants to severe environments, and plant geography, including remote sensing. In particular, we have been studying plants of the coastal strand from the arctic to the tropics. We do a great deal of work on the effects of storms on coastal dunes and beaches, as well as the effects of human disturbance. We have developed management plans intended to reconcile plant requirements with needs for human recreation in public and private coastal areas. Recent interests deal with dune and heathland habitats of Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. We also work in the coastal environments of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. Regular field trips are taken to the New England coast, the southeastern U.S., Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Belize.

Representative Publications: 

Godfrey, P.J. and E.J. Klekowski. 1990. Mutations for chlorophyll-deficiency ("albinism") in the red mangroves of San Salvador Island: Mendel's Law in Bahamian swamps. In Proc. Third Symp. Botany of the Bahamas, RR Smith, ed., Bahamian Field Station, Ltd., San Salvador Island, pp. 25-39.

Klekowski, E.J. and P.J. Godfrey. 1989. Ageing and mutation in plants. Nature 340: 389-391.

Carlson, L.H. and P.J. Godfrey. 1989. Human impact management in a coastal recreation and natural area. Biol. Conservation 49: 141-156.

Godfrey, P.J. 1987. A successful local program for preserving and maintaining dunes on a developed barrier island: Mantoloking, NJ. In Cities on Beaches, U. Chicago Press.

Godfrey, P.J. and M. Godfrey. 1981. Ecological effects of off-road vehicles on Cape Cod. Oceanus 23: 56-67.

Godfrey, P.J. and M.M. Godfrey. 1976. Barrier Island Ecology of Cape Lookout National Seashore and Vicinity, North Carolina. N.P.S. Scientific Monograph Ser. 9, 160 pp.p

Godfrey, P.J. 1976. Barrier beaches of the East Coast. Oceanus 19: 27-40.p

Godfrey, P.J. and M.M. Godfrey. 1974. An ecological approach to dune management in the National Recreation areas of the U.S. East Coast. Int. Jour. Biometeor., 18: 101-110.p

Godfrey, P.J. and M.M. Godfrey. 1973. Comparison of ecological and geomorphic interactions between altered and unaltered barrier island systems in North Carolina. In Coastal Geomorphology. State University of New York, Binghamton, pp. 239-258.

Dolan, R., P.J. Godfrey and W.E. Odum. 1973. Man's impact on the barrier islands of North Carolina. Amer. Sci. 61: 152-166.p