George Elwood Nichols (1882–1939) was a botanist, bryologist, algologist and ecologist, one of the founders 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 ...

Early life

Nichols was born in

Southington, Connecticut Southington is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 43,501. Southington contains the villages of Marion, Milldale, and Plantsville. Geography Southington is situa ...

on April 12, 1882. After secondary school at

Hillhouse High School James Hillhouse High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in New Haven, Connecticut. It serves grades 9–12. James Hillhouse High School is the oldest public high school in New Haven, and is part of the New Haven Public Scho ...

, Nichols matriculated in 1900 at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, there receiving in 1904 his bachelor's degree and in 1909 his Ph.D.; in 1910 his thesis was published in ''Beihefte zum Botanischen Centralblatt''. In 1914, Nichols helped found the Ecological Society of America.

Career

At Yale University's botany department, Nichols became an instructor, then in 1915 assistant professor, in 1924 associate professor and in 1926 full professor. From 1926 until his death, he served simultaneously in three capacities: the Eaton Professor of Botany, chair of Yale's botany department, and director of the Marsh Botanical Garden. Beginning in 1920, each summer he worked at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

's biological station at

Douglas Lake Douglas Lake, also called Douglas Reservoir, is a reservoir created by an impoundment of the French Broad River in Eastern Tennessee. This lake is located only a few miles from the Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg area, and also the Great Smoky Mountains ...

. At the biological station he studied

alga Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mi ...

e and

bryophyte The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited in ...

s, writing about 25 articles on his findings. Nichols served as the president of the Ecological Society of America in 1932. In 1938, he was elected President of the

American Bryological and Lichenological Society The American Bryological and Lichenological Society is an organization devoted to the scientific study of all aspects of the biology of bryophytes and lichen-forming fungi and is one of the nation's oldest botanical organizations. It was origina ...

, a role which he served until his death.

Legacy

Several species have been named in his honor, including ''Dicranella nicholsii'' named by

Robert Statham Williams Robert Statham Williams (May 6, 1859 – March 14, 1945) was an American bryologist who specialized in the mosses of the Yukon and South America. Early life Williams was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 6, 1859. Since childhood, he had alw ...

and ''Hygrohypnum nicholsii'' named by

Abel Joel Grout Abel Joel Grout (1867–1947) was an American bryologist, an expert on pleurocarpous mosses, and founding member of the Sullivant Moss Society. Biography Grout was born near Newfane, Vermont. In 1890, he received his Bachelor of Philosophy fro ...

Selected publications

*Evans, A. W. and G. E. Nichols (1908). ''The Bryophytes of Connecticut''. Conn. Geol. & Nat. Hist. Surv., Bull. 11: 1-203. *Nichols, G. E. (1908)
''North American species of Amblystegiella''
The Bryologist 11: 4-5. *Evans, A. W. and G. E. Nichols (1935). ''The liverwort flora of the Upper Michigan Peninsula''. The Bryologist 38: 81-91. *Nichols, G. E. and W. C. Steere (1936). ''Notes on Michigan bryophytes,-III''. The Bryologist 39: 111-118

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, George Elwood American botanists 1882 births 1939 deaths Yale University alumni Yale University faculty