Richard Harrel

Region: Coastal Plain

Topics: Plants, Botany, Neches River, Big Thicket


Dr. Harrel is a professor in the biology department at Lamar University in Beaumont, where he has taught zoology, ecology, limnology, aquatic entomology and other courses for over 30 years. His research has focused on the water quality, benthic organisms, and ecology of east Texas streams, particularly in the Neches River basin. Through his teaching and research, he became aware of the impaired quality of many streams in southeast Texas due to paper mill and petrochemical plant discharges, and helped found Clean Air and Water, a public interest group that has worked with the region's government and industry, often through Citizens Advisory Panels, to reduce these impacts.

Interviewed

October 11, 1999
Beaumont, Texas
Reels 2052 and 2053