Dr. Eric D. Lund, 51, of Gloucester, Va., died on Dec. 31, 2014 at Riverside Walter Reed Hospital in Gloucester, after a brief illness.

He was born on March 22, 1963 in Burlington, Vt., raised in Farmington, Conn., he graduated from Farmington High School in 1981. 

His bachelor’s degree was granted by Colby College in Waterville, Maine, in 1985, and a master’s degree in biology by the University of Maine in Orono. He later earned his doctorate in molecular biology at the Center for Marine Biotechnology in Baltimore, a division of the University of Maryland in 1998. 

He was a research associate at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, Va., for more than 10 years where he authored or co-authored more than 20 scientific publications dealing with the basic elements of survival of the oyster fishery in Chesapeake Bay.

He had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things fish, birds, and ecology and was a masterful fly fisherman, tying his own flies, and also tying beautiful, decorative, classic fly patterns. 

For the past five years he taught chemistry and ecology at the Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School where he was very devoted to his many students who he referred to as “his children.”

He is survived by his parents, Dr. David and Dorothy Lund of Nantucket, Mass., and his brother, Karl Lund and his wife Stephanie Riefe of Simsbury, Conn.

A celebration of his life will be held Jan. 10 at 11 a.m. at Andrews Funeral Home, 7192 Main Street (business Route 17), Gloucester.

Online condolences at andrewsfuneralservices.com. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to CBGS Education Foundation, P.O. Box 3017, Tappahannock, Va. 22560. In the memo section write “Bowling Green/Eric Lund.”