Sandgren, Craig D.

A native of Minneapolis and graduate of the University of Minnesota, Craig Sandgren received his doctorate at the University of Washington (1978) for research conducted at the Friday Harbor Marine Biological Laboratories on the resting cysts of chrysophyte plankton. After a stint on faculty at the University of Texas Arlington, Sandgren landed at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, where he remained for twenty five years, emerging as a leader in the field of phytoplankton ecology. Although widely known for his work on reproductive patterns in chryosphytes and on the fine structure of their various life stages, his work extended to both marine and fresh water environments and included studies of algae and plankton, aquatic ecology, and intertidal life, among other topics. A popular teacher and avid field biologist, he maintained a strong connection to Friday Harbor throughout his career but maintained active projects in lakes across the northern Midwest as well. Sandgren passed away on Dec. 24, 2011, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Sandgren papers includes a small quantity of professional correspondence, grant proposals, offprints, and other miscellaneous materials relating to his career, along with hundreds of electron micrographs of chrysophytes, videotapes, and photographs.