Morris (or Maurice) Graham Netting (1904–1996) was a

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

, an early participant in the conservation and environmental movement, and a director (1954–1975) of the Carnegie Museum in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Biography

Netting was born in

Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania Wilkinsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The borough has a population of 15,930 as of the 2010 census. Wilkinsburg is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The borough was named for John Wilkins Jr., a United States Army o ...

. He had a long career at the

Carnegie Museum of Natural History The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as CMNH) is a natural history museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896. Housing some 22 millio ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, where he was Curator of the Section of Amphibians and Reptiles from 1931 to 1954. (He was succeeded by Curator Neil D. Richmond.) In 1935, Netting and Leonard Llewellyn discovered the

Cheat Mountain salamander The Cheat Mountain salamander (''Plethodon nettingi'') is a species of small woodland salamander found only on Cheat Mountain, and a few nearby mountains, in the eastern highlands of West Virginia. It and the West Virginia spring salamander ( ...

(''Plethodon nettingi)'' , a species unique and endemic to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. He was Secretary (1931–1947) and President (1948–1950) of the

American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) is an international learned society devoted to the scientific studies of ichthyology (study of fish) and herpetology (study of reptiles and amphibians). The primary emphases of the ...

. In the mid 1950s, Netting helped create the Museum's field station, Powdermill Nature Reserve. He also helped found many environmental organizations in

including the

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) is a private nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1932 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. WPC has contributed land to 12 state parks and conserved more than a quarter million acres o ...

. Netting served as Director of the Carnegie Museum from 1954 to 1975.

References

External links

Carnegie Museum of Natural History Archives
(

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document). American herpetologists 1996 deaths 1904 births 20th-century American zoologists People from Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania {{US-scientist-stub