Clarence Matthew Tarzwell (1907–1993) was an aquatic biologist and water pollution researcher in the employ of the United States Public Health Service and later, the Environmental Protection Agency.
He was chief of the aquatic biology section of the USPHS Taft Environmental Health Center in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1948 to 1953, and later in 1965, he was the founding director of the USPHS National Marine Water Quality Laboratory in West Kingston, Rhode Island.
[4] Tarzwell was credited as a major contributor to the scientific testing protocols leading to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
[1] Since 1977, the road in Narragansett, Rhode Island where the current Northeastern Ecological Laboratory of the Environmental Protection Agency is located (41°29′39″N 71°25′23″W / 41.494139°N 71.422941°W / 41.494139; -71.422941) (the successor to the lab established by Tarzwell in 1965 in West Kingston) has been known as Tarzwell Drive in honor of his service to establish the laboratory and lead the pioneering research efforts.
[3] Tarzwell was the author of over 120 publications primarily on freshwater fisheries, aquatic ecology and water pollution.