Erling Christophersen (April 17, 1898 – November 9, 1994) was a Norwegian botanist, geographer and diplomat. He participated in and led several notable scientific expeditions in the 20th century, including the fifth

Tanager Expedition The ''Tanager'' Expedition was a series of five biological surveys of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands conducted in partnership between the Bureau of Biological Survey and the Bishop Museum, with the assistance of the United States Navy. Four ex ...

(1924) to

Nihoa Nihoa (; haw, Nīhoa ), also known as Bird Island or Moku Manu, is the tallest of ten islands and atolls in the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The island is located at the southern end of the NWHI chain, southeast of ...

and Necker Island and the Norwegian Scientific Expedition to

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena a ...

(1937–1938).

Early life

Christophersen was born in Christiania,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

(now known as

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

) in 1898. He attended the

University of Christiania The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

from 1918–1921, and received his Ph.D from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1924. Christophersen's dissertation, "Soil reaction and plant distribution in the Sylene National Park, Norway", focused on the art and science of applied forest ecology, or

silviculture Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, and quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests and wo ...

, of alpine plants in Norway. See also:

Career

Christophersen was a professor of botany at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

from 1929-1932. He was instrumental in developing and leading the scientific expedition to Tristan da Cunha from 1937-1938. His book, ''Tristan da Cunha, the lonely island'' (1938), is an account of the expedition.

Selected publications

* * *"Vascular plants of Johnston and Wake Islands" (1931) *"Plants of Gough Islands" (1934) *"Flowering plants of Samoa" (1935) *''Tristan da Cunha, the Lonely Isle'' (1938)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Christophersen, Erling 1898 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Norwegian botanists Diplomats from Oslo Yale University alumni University of Hawaiʻi faculty Scientists from Oslo

Early life

Career

Selected publications

See also

References

Further reading

External links