James Hemphill Brown (born 1942) is an American biologist and academic. He is an

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 a Distinguished Professor of Biology at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

. His work has focused on 3 distinct aspects of ecology: 1) the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

and

community ecology In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, ...

of rodents and harvester ants in the

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lo ...

, 2) large-scale questions relating to the distribution of body size, abundance and geographic range of animals, leading to the development of the field of

macroecology Macroecology is the subfield of ecology that deals with the study of relationships between organisms and their environment at large spatial scales to characterise and explain statistical patterns of abundance, distribution and diversity. The term ...

, a term that was coined in a paper Brown co-authored with Brian Maurer of Michigan State University. and 3) the Metabolic Theory of Ecology. In 2005 he was awarded the

Robert H. MacArthur Award The Robert H. MacArthur Award is a biennial prize given by the Ecological Society of America to ecologists for their pivotal contributions to their field. The acceptance speeches of many recipients have been given at the annual meeting of the soci ...

by 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 ...

for his work, including his work toward a

metabolic theory of ecology The metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) is the ecological component of the more general Metabolic Scaling Theory and Kleiber's law. It posits that the metabolic rate of organisms is the fundamental biological rate that governs most observed pattern ...

. Between 1969 and 2011 he was awarded over $18.4 million in grants for his research.

Education and honors

Education

Brown received a bachelors with honors in 1963 before obtaining his PhD in 1967: *

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

, Zoology, 1963,

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

* PhD, Zoology, 1967, University of Michigan

Honors

Honors James Brown has received include: *American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow, 1988 * C. Hart Merriam Award ( American Society of Mammalogists) 1989 *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, a ...

, 1995 *Eugene P. Odum Award for Education (Ecological Society of America), 2001 *Marsh Ward for Career Achievement, (

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

), 2002 *Robert H. MacArthur Award (

), 2005 *Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 2005

Portal

In 1977 Brown, in collaboration with Diane Davidson and James Reichman, started a research project in the

near Portal,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

to study competition between rodents and ants and their influence on the annual plant community.

Books

* * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

"New York Times" article about Dr. Brown's work on biological scaling

Home Page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James Cornell University alumni University of Michigan alumni Living people American ecologists 1942 births Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Ecological Society of America University of New Mexico faculty