Ira Noel Gabrielson (September 27, 1889 – September 7, 1977) was an American naturalist and rnithologist

Personal life

Ira Gabrielson was born on September 27, 1889, in

Sioux Rapids, Iowa Sioux Rapids is a city in Buena Vista County, Iowa, United States. The population was 748 at the time of the 2020 census. History Two early surveyors, Lane and Ray, found the area so attractive for settlement that in 1855 they illegally laid a ...

, in which he attended and later graduated from Morningside College, in 1912. Gabrielson died of heart complications, on September 7, 1977, while living in Virginia. He was 87 years old.

Career

He taught

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

for a short period of time at

Marshalltown High School Marshalltown High School (MHS) is public high school located in Marshalltown, Iowa and is home to 1,600 students in grades 9–12. It is a part of the Marshalltown Community School District. The district, and therefore the high school, serves al ...

Marshalltown, Iowa Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States, located along the Iowa River. It is the seat and most populous settlement of Marshall County and the 16th largest city in Iowa, with a population of 27,591 at ...

. After that, he joined the

Bureau of Biological Survey The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with oth ...

. He became a director of the

US Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

, before which he served as chief of the old Bureau of Biological Survey of the Agriculture Department. In 1940, when Biological Survey and the Bureau of Fisheries united into the

Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

, he became a director, and stayed as such until 1946. During that time he served as a deputy coordinator of fisheries and a U.S. delegate to the International Whaling Conference, and had responsibility for adding millions of acres to the

National Wildlife Refuge System National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to c ...

. In 1946 he retired from the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

, and became the president of the Wildlife Management Institute. He served there until 1970, after which he became the chairman of the board. From 1959 to 1976, he was a chairman of the

Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority NOVA Parks (formerly named Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority) is an inter-jurisdictional organization that owns and operates more than 10,000 acres of woodlands, streams, parks, trails, nature reserves, countryside and historic sites in N ...

. He was called upon by the governor to the Virginia Outdoor Study Commission, in 1966, during which year he drafted a plan on how to conserve and develop the state's natural resources. In 1975, he and his colleagues were chosen by the

American Forestry Association American Forests is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization, established in 1875, and dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy forest ecosystems. The current headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Activities The mission of American ...

as one of the selected groups for the

National Hall of Conservation National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. He wrote four books and coauthored six others, all of which were on birds and conservation. He joined expeditions to the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...

, and

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, all in the name of birds. He was a member of the

Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...

and was awarded the Audubon Medal in 1949. He also has an award from the Interior Department's Distinguished Service Award. During his lifetime, he also was a member of the

American Ornithologists Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

, the

Ecology Society of America 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 ...

, the

Izaak Walton League The Izaak Walton League is an American environmental organization founded in 1922 that promotes natural resource protection and outdoor recreation. The organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois, by a group of sportsmen who wished to protect fi ...

Society of Systematic Zoology A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...

Washington Academy of Sciences Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and the

Cosmos Club The Cosmos Club is a 501(c)(7) private social club in Washington, D.C. that was founded by John Wesley Powell in 1878 as a gentlemen's club for those interested in science. Among its stated goals is, "The advancement of its members in science, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabrielson, Ira Noel American ornithologists 1889 births 1977 deaths American entomologists People from Buena Vista County, Iowa Recipients of the Department of the Interior's Distinguished Service Award 20th-century American zoologists