Nicholas Hughes, a noted marine biologist and the only son of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Sylvia Plath and poet Ted Hughes, died on March 16, 2009 in Alaska at the age of 47. Born in London, England in April 1961, Hughes attended school in England, the United States and at Cambridge University in England, where he received his doctorate in marine biology in 1992. He was a professor of fisheries and Ocean Sciences at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and conducted research in the North Pacific and Antarctic oceans, studying the impacts of climate change on marine life. In 1988, he married Sian Steel, with whom he had a daughter, Freya, and a son, Nicholas. Nicholas Hughes was an adventurous and active outdoorsman who enjoyed climbing, skiing, hiking and fishing. He was a talented photographer and an accomplished musician, and was deeply devoted to his family and friends. In addition to his wife and children, Nicholas Hughes is survived by his mother and step-father, Aurelia Plath and Olwyn Hughes; his brother, Frieda Hughes; his sister, Freida Hughes Adams; his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Hughes; his aunts, Nancy and Beatrice Hughes, as well as numerous cousins, nephews and nieces.