UH scientist
names seaweed
after Bruce Babbitt

By Pete Pichaske
Star-Bulletin

WASHINGTON -- It's not every day a person has a seaweed named after him. And so it is that Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, in the words of a spokesman, is "amazed and flattered" that a University of Hawaii scientist has named a species of seaweed she discovered the Dudresnaya babbittiana.

"Really, nothing like this has happened to him before," said spokesman John Wright.

For UH professor of marine science Karla McDermid, however, the name was a natural. After all, she discovered the new seaweed species and six others off the coast of Midway Atoll, the former military base which was only opened to scientists after Babbitt designated it a wildlife refuge.

"I thought it was important to honor the person that made Midway open to science and to the public, and made it a refuge," said McDermid. "There is so much rich diversity there, and he made it possible to research it."

McDermid, who herself has a marine plant named after her by a colleague (naming a new species after yourself is not allowed), said she discovered the new seaweed species during the several trips she has made to Midway since it became a refuge two years ago.

She told Babbitt of the planned designation when he was in Hawaii a few months ago, and later received a thank-you note from him.

"He thought this was pretty nifty, to have a species named after him," she said.

The unusual choice of names has not gone unnoticed here. A Washington Post columnist speculated recently that other flora and fauna on Midway -- particularly the famous gooney birds -- might appropriately be named after other Cabinet members.

The other half-dozen species she discovered are still unnamed, said McDermid, but she plans more traditional names.

"They're not going to be named after politicians," she promised.