David Tarver
(1951-2019)
David joined the Aquatic Plant Management Society (APMS) in 1973 after graduating from Northwestern State University in Louisiana with a BS degree in Wildlife Management. He received a master’s degree in Botany from NSU in 1974 and joined the Florida Department of Natural Resources where he provided aquatic plant management extension services and law enforcement duties while serving as the Northwest Florida regional biologist.
- APMS Member 1973
- FAPMS Charter Member 1976
- FAPMS BOD 1983-1987
- APMS BOD 1995—2003
- FAPMS President 1986
- APMS President 2002
- APMS Honorary Member 2012
- Aquatics Magazine publisher from 1985-2009
David was hired by EliLily and Dow to work in Sonar herbicide product develop- ment from 1981-1994, and SePAO from 1995-2011 to become Director of Techni- ca1 Development. During this period, David was a leader in developing strategies to apply fluridone herbicide alone and in combination with other tools to bring hydrilla under maintenance control in Florida public lakes and rivers.
He served on the FAPMS Board of Directors from 1983-1987 and the APMS Board from 1995-2003. David was the publisher ofAquatics magazine from 1985- 2009. He worked in APMS Education and Outreach where he co-authored the “Understanding Invasive Aquatic Weeds” workbook distributed to more than a half million students. For his many years of service to aquatic resource management, APMS bestowed Honorary Membership to David in 2012.
For more than four decades, David Tarver personified innovation and customer service—both with regulatory agencies and the private sector, spending countless hours on Florida lakes and elsewhere in the country; assessing problems and creating management solutions, then passing that information to managers and stakeholders. Few have shown David’s relentless passion to improve the science and management of invasive aquatic plants or had such positive impacts restoring and maintaining the uses and functions of lakes and rivers as David Tarver.
David Paul was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He loved, protected, and cherished his family above all else. Pau1 married his high school sweetheart, Debra Gallien in 1973. Together, they shared a lifetime of experiences including traveling, raising two boys and loving their precious grandchildren. He shared his vast knowledge of science with his grandchildren through countless hours helping them with homework and teaching them how to study. Paul shared his passion and skills as an Eagle Scout and Boy Scout volunteer with his two sons, Dusty,Josh, and many of their friends. He supported their endeavors in sports, hunting and fishing, and taught them to value education and have respect for our country.
He was preceded in death by his father Lee Tarver, mother Lucille Pope Tarver, and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Marie Evans Tarver. He is survived in his immediate family by his wife of 46 years Debra Gallien Tarver, son Dustin and wife Selena; grandchildren Presley Tarver and Bristol Tarver, and Sterling Moon, Asher Moon, and Luciano Moon, and son Josh and grandson, Colby.