John Moline Teal, 94, died on June 14, 2024 at Teal Farm. John was an internationally recognized biologist and naturalist. He was best known for his research work on salt marsh ecology, including the popular book Life and Death of the Salt Marsh, co-authored with his first wife Mildred Teal. His research also included deep sea oceanography and oil spills in the ocean. Throughout his career, he used his scientific expertise to effect change in policies and laws. He was instrumental in developing the Massachusetts Wetland Protection Act that is a model throughout the US. As author and co-author, he published more than 160 scientific publications, including articles on “The Long-term Effects of Nuclear War “ (Science 1983) and others warning of the effects of sea level rise and wetlands loss in the US. He also wrote articles for children on oceanography. He served on boards and government advisory committees including The National Academy of Science, The Conservation Law Foundation (1978-2013), and closer to home on the Conservation Commissions in Falmouth and Rochester, MA.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska to Clarence William and Valentine Moline Teal, he got an early start on his career as an ecologist playing in the ravine wetland behind his house that was later filled in to build more houses. His summers were spent outdoors as a camper and then counselor at Camp Vermilion in northern Minnesota. After his graduation from Omaha’s Benson High School in 1947 he went on to get a BA, 1951, and PhD in 1955 from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Harvard, he sang both with the Glee Club and with a group called the Dunster Dunces, working summers in research labs in Woods Hole, MA.
John’s professional career started at the University of Georgia Marine Institute (1955-1959) on Sapelo Island where he lived with Mildred and their children Eric and Tanya. He considered the island a living laboratory and developed techniques to study and measure the biogeochemical functions of salt marshes. He then moved to Nova Scotia and spent two years at Dalhousie University’s newly-established Institute of Oceanography before joining Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in 1961, where he became Senior Scientist and served as the Chair of the Biology Department from 1982-85. John loved going to sea on WHOI ships, sampling animals from the deep ocean and introducing students and young scientists to the magic and the rigors of sea-going oceanography. He was active in the WHOI-MIT Joint Doctoral Degree Program as a teacher and mentor. He retired from WHOI in 1994. After retirement, he worked as scientific consultant to several major wetlands restoration and conservation projects in the United States. He became a scientific advisor to Public Service Electric & Gas of New Jersey on their extensive coastal wetland restoration project around Delaware Bay and continued to work on that project until he retired in 2018.
In 1977, he bought a 100-plus-acre farm in Rochester, MA and started a new adventure with his second wife Susan. They added another 50 acres a few years later with generous support from their neighbor, Julia Enroth, who believed in their vision to protect farm land in their community. They also subtracted some land when they gave a house lot to John’s daughter Tanya and a few acres to the Rochester Congregational Church so that they could build a church hall. This new venture allowed John to buy farm equipment, including two 65-hp John Deere tractors, a back hoe and haying equipment. And they built a house, barns, sheds, chicken coops, greenhouses where they raised sheep, geese, ducks, chickens, hay, fruit and vegetables, with an orchard that had over 50 varieties of apples. Teal Farm is permanently protected from development by a Conservation Restriction held by the Wildlands Trust of Southeastern MA.
John was predeceased by his parents, his brother Dr. Peter V. Teal of Billings, MT, and his former wife, Mildred Teal. He is survived by his wife Susan Blackmore (Peterson) Teal, his brother Thomas A. Teal (Anne Nou) of Somerville, MA, his sister Alison V. Teal (Sam Brown) of Key West ,FL, his sister-in-law Annie Teal of Tucson, AZ, his son Eric Teal of Townsend, GA, daughter Tanya Sanders (David) and grandchildren Matthew Sanders (Kayla), David Sanders Jr. (Sybil Krawczyk) all of Rochester, Carolyn Abrantes (Eric) of South Dartmouth, and Alexander Carroll-Teal of Falmouth, MA. He has three wonderful great-grandchildren: Weylyn, Rhiannon, and Freya Sanders.
John leaves many friends, colleagues, students, nieces, nephews and in-laws. Though known to terrify his graduate students, over time he mellowed and even learned to smile. His comfortable old age on the farm would not have been possible without having his grandsons, Matt and Dave, and their families, living and working on the farm.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the Conservation Law Foundation of New England (CLF.org), the Rochester Land Trust (rochesterlandtrust.org), or Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI.edu). Following the example set by his parents, John has donated his body to the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Deepest condolences to John’s family, friends and many students and colleagues. For all your work on salt marshes, John, we remain ever in your debt.
Susan Adamowicz
His Georgia work on salt marsh ecosystems and crabs stimulated my research and teaching for a lifetime.
John was on my thesis committee, and I was lucky to be able to spend time on his farm in Rochester where we kept captive Canada geese for the studies I was doing. As a committee member he asked tough questions but with the true spirit of inquiry.
My condolences to Susan and the rest of his family.
My condolences to Susan, a key part of my Oceanarium / Ocean Explorium life. John was a humble giant in the science world he inhabited, just a few miles from New Bedford, but his work resonates in decision-making along all our waterfront ‘edges’.