Robert J. Beyers in his office at SREL.
SREL mourns the loss of Robert J. Beyers
Robert J. Beyers served as the SREL’s second director and a professor at the University of Georgia from 1967 to 1974. He resigned to chair the biology department at the University of South Alabama, where he served until his retirement in 1998.
Among his many accomplishments, Beyers co-authored “Ecological Microcosm” with Howard T. Odum, the brother of Eugene Odum, founder of SREL and the Odum School of Ecology. Beyers was recognized internationally as a pioneer in developing the microcosm concept for studying ecosystems, and he was the first member of SREL’s faculty to publish a paper in Science magazine.
Beyers earned his doctorate from the University of Texas in Austin after serving in the United States Air Force.
He passed away on Friday, April 9 at his home in Mobile, Alabama. Services were held at Holy Family Catholic Church on April 16.
Donations in lieu of flowers can be made in his honor to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: www.aspca.org.
