There may be problems with the site to which you have linked. It timed out for me.
All wikipedia had to say about him was that he is primarily involved with the private marine reef aquarium community. Check it out:
Ron Shimek
Mihai, could you please detail what you're saying about marine reef aquarium culture and permacultural food production? I love the concept, personally, but I view the field as a way to study localised interactions in the reef biosphere, and of course as a necessity to taking and preserving samples of reef-dwelling organisms in living zoological libraries for the seeding of regenerated and constructed reefs.
My focus on the interaction between reefs and
permaculture have to do with a substance known as
Biorock. It is apparently being used in at least a half-dozen spots around the globe to "grow" sea walls and reef infrastructure, and corals and other sedentary reef denizens simply love the low-level electric current that causes the sea minerals to become electrochemically deposited.
My ideal iteration of this idea would look like an iceberg, with 90% of its mass under the surface, grown entirely of biorock and ringed with an outer perimeter of floating mycobooms and mangrove swamp and salt marsh plantings, within the perimeter of which would exist top-down permaculturally-aligned open-water mariculture operations. The sub-surface mass of this island would become its own coral reef.
Islands such as these could be set up on the perimeters of protected areas to both engage in literal
water filtration and plastic sequestration, probably for high-temperature incineration, to generate more electricity for island use or growth, and to exist as eco-tourism hubs. They could be base camps for daytrips to ecologically sensitive sites such as the Galapagos, and could eventually become arks to the indigenous wildlife as the oceans rise to swallow
land.
And while I have yet to test this, or to have someone verify it, the electrochemical deposition of sea minerals, including
carbon from dissolved carbon dioxide, should result in the localised neutralisation of overly acidic oceans.
So Ron Shimek's work could be extremely relevant to me. Why do you call him the "biggest" marine biologist? Is he Paul-sized, or is he significant for some reason other than the field guide he published a decade and a half ago?
-CK
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein