• A.B. - Gettysburg College

• M.S. - Rutgers University (Entomology)

• Ph.D. - Rutgers University (Zoology)

Research Interests

• Ecology and biogeography of northwest Atlantic marine and estuarine invertebrates, particularly nudibranch mollusks and echinoderms

• Population biology and demography of the Atlantic Ribbed Mussel Geukensia demissa in Jamaica Bay

• Estuarine and coastal benthic invertebrate community structure; sand flat communities in Jamaica Bay

• Intertidal harpacticoid copepods in Jamaica Bay in relation to diets of post-larval fish; Effects of eutrophication on estuarine meiofaunal copepods.

• Factors contributing to rapid erosion and loss of fringing salt marshes in Jamaica Bay, including rapid expansion of the invasive grass Phragmites australis

• Evolution - Basic introduction to biological evolution theory, required by all biology majors

• Ecology - Introduction to ecosystem, population and community ecology; Advanced elective course for biology majors

• Biology of Estuaries - Graduate level introduction to estuarine science

Representative Papers (not a complete bibliography)
• Franz, D.R. 1970. Zoogeography of Northwest Atlantic opisthobranch mollusks. Marine Biology 7: 171-180
• Franz, D.R., 1976. Benthic molluscan assemblages in relation to sediment gradients in northwestern Long Island Sound, Connecticut. Malacologia 15: 377-399
• Franz, D.R., 1976. Distribution and abundance of inshore populations of the surf clam Spisula solidissima. American Society of limnology and Oceanography, Special Symposium v. 2, Middle Atlantic Continental Shelf and the New York Bight, pp. 404-4132
• Franz, D. R. & A. S. Merrill, 1980. The origins and determinants of distribution of molluscan faunal groups on the shallow continental shelf of the northwest Atlantic. Malacologia 19: 227-248
• Hendler, G. & D. R. Franz, 1982. The biology of a brooding seastar, Leptasterias tenera, in Block Island Sound. Biological Bulletin 162: 273-289
• Franz, D.R., 1986. Seasonal changes in pyloric caecum and gonad indices during the annual reproductive cycle in the seastar Asterias forbesi. Marine Biology 91: 553-560
• Franz, D. R. and W. H. Harris, 1988. Seasonal and spatial variability in macrobenthos communities in Jamaica Bay, New York - An urban estuary. Estuaries 11: 15-28
• Franz, D. R. and J. T. Tanacredi, 1992. Secondary production of the amphipod Ampelisca abdita Mills and its importance in the diet of juvenile Winter Flounder (Pleuronectes americanus) in Jamaica Bay, New York. Estuaries 15: 193-203
• Franz, D. R., 1997. Resource allocation in the intertidal salt-marsh mussel Geukensia demissa in relation to shore level. Estuaries 20: 134-148
• Franz, D. R. & I. Friedman, 2001. Effects of a macroalgal mat (Ulva lactuca) on estuarine sand flat copepods: an experimental study. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 271: 209-226
• Franz, D. R., 2001. Recruitment, survivorship, and age structure of a New York ribbed mussel population (Geukensia demissa) in relation to shore level - a nine year study. Estuaries 24: 319-327