William Dwight Billings (December 29, 1910 – January 4, 1997) was an American

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

. He was one of the foundational figures in the field of plant

physiological ecology Ecophysiology (from Greek , ''oikos'', "house(hold)"; , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , ''-logia''), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biological discipline that studies the response of an organism's physiology to environm ...

and made major contributions to desert and arctic/alpine ecology. Billings served as President of the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

(ESA) from 1978 to 1979. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1979. In 1962, ESA granted him the

Mercer Award Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trade ...

, for an outstanding research paper by a researcher under the age of 40; ESA also awarded the

Eminent Ecologist Award The Eminent Ecologist Award is prize awarded annually to a senior ecologist in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the science of ecology. The prize is awarded by the Ecological Society of America. According to the statutes, the recipient ...

in 1991.

Career chronology

His advisees include Robin B. Foster.

References

Other sources

* ''Arctic and Alpine Research'', Vol. 29 (1997): 253-254. * ''Contemporary Authors'', Vol. 113 (1985). * ''Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America'', Vol. 78(2) (1997): 115-117. * ''Arctic'', Vol. 50(3) (1997): 275-276.

External links

Biographical Sketch by Charles Smith

Obituary by Dr. Kim Peterson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Billings, William Dwight 1910 births 1997 deaths American ecologists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Scientists from Washington, D.C.