Dr. Barry A. Vittor was appointed an Assistant Professor of Marine Science in the University of Alabama Marine Science Program in 1971. He was based at Bayou La Batre until 1972, when he assisted in development of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Dr. Vittor was promoted to Associate Professor in 1976, then left the University in 1977 and founded Barry A. Vittor & Associates, Inc.

While with the University of Alabama, Dr. Vittor’s principal areas of research involved benthic ecology and coastal wetlands. He conducted extensive studies of the effects of channel dredging on estuarine benthos, water quality, and sediments, as well as the potential beneficial uses of dredged material for coastal marsh creation. He also became recognized as an expert in the taxonomy of benthic polychaetous annelids, which comprise a critical component of estuarine and marine bottom-dwelling biota.

Since the inception of Vittor & Associates, Dr. Vittor has been heavily involved in studying the toxicity of sediments and effluents to a wide variety of aquatic and marine organisms. His work has focused primarily on bioassay, bioaccumulation, and risk assessment of dredged material in inland and coastal waters. He has also managed numerous investigations of benthic communities at ocean dredged material disposal sites for the US Environmental Protection Agency and U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Dr. Vittor has worked for years with wetlands restoration and management projects and has assisted in regulatory agency permitting of hundreds of public and private developments throughout the Southeast.

As a past-Director of the Alabama Coastal Foundation, and a member of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program Management committee, Dr. Vittor has been very active in assessing and planning coastal resource management. As President and Senior Scientist at Vittor & Associates, Dr. Vittor has responsibility for planning and coordination of a wide range of environmental programs, including wetlands assessments, ecological restoration, toxicity studies, water quality monitoring, resource characterization and management and long-range planning for dredged material disposal.