The Ecology Book

DIRECTORY 335

Potsdam, he studied at several

universities before becoming a zoology

professor at the University of Jena in

1861. Haeckel was the first biologist
      to propose the kingdom Protista—for
      organisms that are neither animal nor
      vegetable—and he researched and
      painstakingly recorded tiny deep-
      sea protozoans called radiolaria.
      See also: Evolution by natural selection
      24–31

WILLIAM BLAKE RICHMOND

1842–1921

Best known as a British artist, sculptor,

and designer of stained glass and

mosaics, London-born Richmond

became an environmental activist

after having to endure the poor light

and smoky air produced by London’s

winter coal fires. In 1898 he founded

the Coal Smoke Abatement Society

(CSAS) to lobby politicians for clean

air. The CSAS was instrumental in the

introduction of the UK’s Public Health

(Smoke Abatement) Act in 1926 and

the Clean Air Act in 1956.

See also: Pollution 230–235

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

1858–1919

To deal with severe childhood asthma,

Roosevelt became an active sportsman

and outdoorsman, developing a lifelong

passion for nature. When, in 1900, he

stood as William McKinley’s running

mate in the US presidential election, he

did so on a ticket of peace, prosperity,

and conservation. Roosevelt became

the 26th President when McKinley was

assassinated in 1901, and went on to

establish the US Forest Service, five

new national parks, 51 bird reserves,

and 150 national forests.

See also: Deforestation 254–259

JÓSEF PACZOSKI

1864–1942

Paczoski was a Polish ecologist, born

in what is now Ukraine. He studied

botany at the University of Kiev and

went on to pioneer phytosociology, the

study of natural plant communities, first

using the term in 1896. In the 1920s

Paczoski established the world’s first

institute of phytosociology, at the

University of Poznan, where he was

professor of plant systematics. An

accomplished botanist, he published

works on central European flora,

including that of the Białowieza Forest,

which he managed as a national park.

See also: Organisms and their

environment 166

JACK MINER

1865–1944

Also known as “Wild Goose Jack,” Miner

moved with his family from the US to

Canada in 1878. He was illiterate until

the age of 33 but embarked on local

conservation projects, such as building

winter feeding stations for Bobwhites.

He was one of the first people in North

America to put aluminum bands on

birds’ legs to track their movements. A

duck banded by him, and later seen

in South Carolina, was the first banding

recovery made in North America. Miner

is thought to have banded more than

90,000 wildfowl, helping establish

a huge database of migration routes.

See also: Citizen science 178–183

JAMES BERNARD HARKIN

1875–1955

Sometimes referred to as the “father

of Canadian national parks,” Harkin had

a passion for politics and conservation.

In 1911, he was appointed the first

commissioner of the Canadian National

Parks Agency and oversaw the

establishment of Point Pelee, Wood

Buffalo, Kootenay, Elk Island, Georgian

Bay Islands, and Cape Breton Highlands

national parks. Harkin realized the

commercial value of the parks, and

his policy of encouraging road-building

to attract tourists was not universally

popular. He was a prime mover behind

legislation to regulate the hunting

of migrant birds in 1917.

See also: Endangered habitats 236–239,

Deforestation 254–259

MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS

1890–1998

A formidable campaigner for the

protection of the Florida Everglades,

Douglas was also a successful journalist

and author, suffragist, and campaigner

for civil rights. Her 1947 book The

Everglades: River of Grass was

influential in building an appreciation

of the Florida wetlands, and in 1969 she

founded the Friends of the Everglades

to defend the area from draining for

development. Douglas remained active

well into her second century, and at

the age of 103 she was awarded the

Presidential Medal of Freedom.

See also: Citizen science 178–183

BARBARA MCCLINTOCK

1902–1992

In 1983 McClintock became the first

solo woman to win the Nobel Prize in

Physiology or Medicine, and the first

American woman to win any unshared

Nobel Prize. The award recognized her

discovery—more than 30 years before—

of transposable genetic elements, or

“jumping genes,” which sometimes

create or reverse mutations. As a

cytogeneticist concerned with how

chromosomes relate to cell behavior, she

also discovered the first genetic map

for corn—linking physical traits with

regions of the chromosome—and the

mechanism by which chromosomes

exchange information.

See also: The role of DNA 34–37

JACQUES COUSTEAU

1910–1997

French undersea explorer Cousteau was

well known as the presenter of several

documentaries on the aquatic world.

After inventing underwater breathing

apparatus called the Aqua-Lung in

1943, he worked with the French Navy

to clear underwater mines after World

War II. He later converted the Calypso,

a former minesweeper, into a research

vessel from which he explored the

oceans, writing several books and

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