Robert K. Trench
Robert Kent Trench is an American Biologist who was a Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research considered corals and symbiotic algae, with a focus on the adaption of zooxanthellae. He was awarded the 1994 International Society of Endocytobiology Miescher-Ishida Prize.Early life and education
Trench was born in Belize City in British Honduras. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of the West Indies. He moved to the University of California, Los Angeles for his doctoral research, where he focussed on invertebrate zoology in the laboratory of Leonard Muscatine. Trench earned his doctorate in 1969 and moved to the University of Oxford as a postdoctoral fellow.Research and career
In 1972 Trench moved to Yale University as an Assistant Professor. Trench moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1976. His research considered corals and symbiotic algae, with a focus on the adaption of zooxanthellae and how they adapt to different coral environments. He studied dinoflagellates, which can be used as an indicator of water quality.
In 1984 Trench was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II to move to Australia and study the Great Barrier Reef. He visited the James Cook University, where he analysed the enzymes in the algae within coral tissues.
In 1994 he was awarded the International Society of Endocytobiology Miescher-Ishida Prize. In 2010 he was awarded the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Lifetime Achievement Award.
He serves as an advisor for the Global Coral Reef Alliance. He retired from academic science in 2000,Selected publications
