Philip Martin Fearnside (born May 25, 1947) is an American biologist and scientist, active for many years in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, where he developed the most important part of his career and gained wide national and international notoriety.

Biography

Fearnside was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, and has a bachelor's degree in

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 ...

at Colorado College. 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 ...

, he did his master's and PhD in the same area. He has worked especially on issues of tropical agro-ecosystems,

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment (biophysical), environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; an ...

and their impact on society, sustainable development and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

.XXXVI Congresso Brasileiro de Ciência do Solo
''Philip Fearnside''
. Belém do Pará, 30/07-04/08/2017Academia Brasileira de Ciências
''Philip Martin Fearnside''
. Fearnside has a large published bibliography (http://philip.inpa.gov.br), which includes studies that contributed to the increase of the knowledge about the fires, the capacity of human support in colonization areas, the rhythm, environmental causes and impacts of deforestation in 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 ...

; for the development of techniques for sustainable management of nature, and for the renewal of methodologies for assessing greenhouse gas emissions, among other topics.

Career

He began his professional career as a graduate student, leaving for

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

as an agent of the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

, a technology and humanitarian aid body of the US government, operating between 1969 and 1971 in the state of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

,. Returning to the United States, he finished his higher studies, intending to return later to India, but the beginning of an armed conflict caused him to direct his interests to the

, installing in Brazil, where since 1978 he is a scientist at the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), headquartered in

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

, Brazil. He is a researcher at the Coordination of Research in Environmental Dynamics at

INPA The National Institute of Amazonian Research (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia or INPA) is a public educational and research institution headquartered in Manaus, Brazil. It was founded in 1952, with the purpose of furthering scientific ...

. Since 1983, he has been deepening his studies on the impact of deforestation on the

greenhouse effect The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when energy from a planet's host star goes through the planet's atmosphere and heats the planet's surface, but greenhouse gases in the atmosphere prevent some of the heat from returning directly ...

, trying to highlight the economic, political and social importance of forest preservation, as well as its ecological importance. He has been an active voice in defending the Brazilian environment and alert to the dangers of

deforestation and global warming Deforestation is a primary contributor to climate change. Land use changes, especially in the form of deforestation, are the second largest anthropogenic source of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, after fossil fuel combustion. Greenho ...

. In 2003, Pesquisa Fapesp magazine published a story about the biologist and reported that "today, three decades after landing in the region, Fearnside accumulates field experience - even lived in villages along the Trans-Amazonian Highway to do his doctorate - and scientific knowledge about the Amazon rarely found in Brazilians ..His name is an international reference in many of the themes that make the great tropical forest an important and controversial subject, such as the possible relation between forest deforestation and climate change on the planet and the impact of the implementation of roads, dams and agricultural projects in the region. For his work in favor of sustainable development against offensive projects to the environment, such as the construction of the

Balbina Dam The Balbina Dam ( pt, Usina Hidrelétrica de Balbina) is a hydroelectric dam and power station on the Uatumã River in the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil. The location is under the municipality of Presidente Figueiredo jurisdiction, in the state of A ...

power plant in the 1980s, he is often challenged by supporters of progress."O amigo da floresta"
. ''Revista Pesquisa Fapesp'', jan/2003

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fearnside, Philip 1947 births Living people People from Berkeley, California 21st-century American biologists American environmentalists American expatriates in Brazil Members of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences Colorado College alumni University of Michigan alumni Brazilianists