Edward Smith Deevey Jr. (3 December 1914 – 29 November 1988), born in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

, was a prominent 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 ...

and paleolimnologist, and an early protégé of G. Evelyn Hutchinson at

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 ...

. He was a creative pioneer in several areas, including quantitative

palynology Palynology is the "study of dust" (from grc-gre, παλύνω, palynō, "strew, sprinkle" and ''-logy'') or of "particles that are strewn". A classic palynologist analyses particulate samples collected from the air, from water, or from deposit ...

, cycling of natural

isotope Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numb ...

biogeochemistry Biogeochemistry is the scientific discipline that involves the study of the chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes and reactions that govern the composition of the natural environment (including the biosphere, the cryosphere, ...

, population dynamics, systematics and

ecology 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 overl ...

of freshwater

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

, and he promoted the use of life tables in ecology.W. T. Edmondson
Edward Smith Deevey, Jr., December 3, 1914 — November 29, 1988
''Biographical Memoirs'', National Academy of Sciences.Edward S. Deevey, 73, Biologist and Ecologist
''

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'', December 2, 1988 In 1938, Deevey received his Ph.D. in Zoology from Yale University as a student of Hutchinson.Chrono-Biographical Sketch
by Charles H. Smith, Western Kentucky University, link confirmed 30 December 2011. He taught at Yale from 1946 to 1968. In 1971, he became curator of paleoecology at the Florida Museum of Natural History and a research professor at the University of Florida, where he remained until the time of his death. Deevey 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 ...

in 1969-70, and in 1982, received 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 ...

from that organization.Edward S. Deevey, Jr., President 1969-70
, Ecological Society of America website, retrieved 30 December 2011. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1981.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deevey, Edward Smith Jr. 1914 births 1988 deaths American ecologists American limnologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences