Storrs Lovejoy Olson (April 3, 1944 – January 20, 2021) was an American
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
and
ornithologist who spent his career at the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
, retiring in 2008. One of the world's foremost
avian paleontologists, he was best known for his studies of
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
and
subfossil birds on islands such as
Ascension,
St. Helena
Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constit ...
and
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
. His early higher education took place at
Florida State University in 1966, where he obtained a B.A. in biology, and the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, where he received an M.S. in biology. Olson's doctoral studies took place at
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
, in what was then the School of Hygiene and Public Health. He was married to fellow paleornithologist
Helen F. James.
Early life and education
Olson was born April 4, 1944, in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
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. His father was
physical oceanographer Franklyn C.W. Olson. He was named after his maternal
conservationist grandfather P.S. Lovejoy.
Franklyn worked at the
University of Ohio
Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...
's Stone Laboratory on
Gibraltar Island
Gibraltar Island (or the "Gem of Lake Erie") is an island in Ohio, located within Lake Erie. This small 6.55-acre (0.026 km²) island is just offshore of South Bass Island. It is part of Put-in-Bay Township, Ottawa County, Ohio.
The rocky ...
. In these lacustrine surroundings, Storrs developed an interest in
fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...
.
In 1950, Olson's family moved to
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...
when Franklyn took a job at
Florida State University. Young Olson's interests shifted to
ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
at age 12. Olson graduated from Leon High School in 1962. In 1963, he moved to
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
to assist a friend with his research on fish. He would return to Panama in 1966 as an undergraduate, to study the immunology of vultures.
His higher education began at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
under the colorful
Pierce Brodkorb
William Pierce Brodkorb (September 29, 1908, Chicago – July 18, 1992, Gainesville, Florida) was an American ornithologist and paleontologist.
Interested in birds since childhood, he was taught to prepare birds at the age of 16. Later, he rec ...
and spurred his interest in
paleornithology Paleornithology, also known as avian paleontology, is the scientific study of bird evolution and fossil birds. It is a hybrid of ornithology and paleontology. Paleornithology began with the discovery of ''Archaeopteryx''. The reptilian relationship ...
. He returned to Florida State in 1968 to complete his
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. .
Career and graduate education
Olson's work in Panama attracted the attention of
Alexander Wetmore
Frank Alexander Wetmore (June 18, 1886 – December 7, 1978) was an American ornithologist and avian paleontologist. He was the sixth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
Early life and education
The son of a Country Physician, Frank Ale ...
in 1967, as Wetmore was preparing a
monograph on Panama bird life. Their contact at the
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...
(NMNH)—administered by the
Smithsonian—earned Olson a summer job in 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 ...
under
Richard C. Banks the next year.
[ He then became resident manager at the Smithsonian's new Chesapeake Bay Center in ]Edgewater, Maryland
Edgewater is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 9,023 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Edgewater is a suburb located southwest of Annapolis on the south side of the tidal South River. ...
.
The center had connections to Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
, and Olson was encouraged to enroll there for graduate school. He would matriculate at the School of Hygiene and Public Health in the Department of Pathobiology under Bernhard Bang. With the Smithsonian's backing, Olson went to Ascension Island and Saint Helena in 1970 and 1971, where he discovered the Saint Helena hoopoe
The Saint Helena hoopoe (''Upupa antaios''), also known as the Saint Helena giant hoopoe or giant hoopoe, is an extinct species of the hoopoe (family Upupidae), known exclusively from an incomplete subfossil skeleton. It was last seen around 1550 ...
and the Saint Helena crake
The Saint Helena crake (''Zapornia astrictocarpus'') is an extinct bird species from the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, one of two flightless rails which survived there until the early 16th century.Storrs L. Olson, Paleorni ...
. This work was the basis of his dissertation on the evolution of rails
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' ( ...
. Johns Hopkins would award Olson an Sc. D. in 1972.
By August 1971 he was working at the NMNH on a predoctoral fellowship. He wrote on fossil rails for a 1977 monograph by Sidney Dillon Ripley. In March 1975, he was made curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
of the Division of Birds.
In 1976 he met his future wife Helen F. James who later became another notable paleornithologist herself, focusing on Late Quaternary prehistoric birds
Late Quaternary prehistoric birds are avian taxa that became extinct during the Late Quaternary – the Holocene or Late Pleistocene – and before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by ornithol ...
. During their pioneering research work on Hawaii, which lasted 23 years, Olson and James found and described the remains of 50 extinct bird species new to science, including the nēnē-nui, the moa-nalo
The moa-nalo are a group of extinct aberrant, goose-like ducks that lived on the larger Hawaiian Islands, except Hawaii itself, in the Pacific. They were the major herbivores on most of these islands until they became extinct after human settle ...
s, the apteribis
''Apteribis'' is an extinct genus of flightless birds in the ibis subfamily that was endemic to the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Distribution
The remains of the small ibises in the genus have only been found on the islands of Maui, Lan ...
es, and the ''Grallistrix'' " stilt-owls". He was also one of the authors of the description of the extinct rodent '' Noronhomys vespuccii''. In 1982, he discovered subfossil bones of the long ignored Brace's emerald
Brace's emerald (''Riccordia bracei'') is an extinct species of hummingbird which was endemic to the main island of the Bahamas, New Providence.
Description
Its size was 9.5 cm, the wing length 11.4 cm and length of the tail 2.7 c ...
on the Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...
, which gave evidence that this hummingbird is a valid and distinct species.
In November 1999, Olson wrote an open letter to the National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...
, in which he criticized Christopher P. Sloan's claims about the dinosaur-to-bird transition which referred to the fake species "Archaeoraptor
"Archaeoraptor" is the informal generic name for a fossil chimera from China in an article published in ''National Geographic'' magazine in 1999. The magazine claimed that the fossil was a " missing link" between birds and terrestrial therop ...
". In 2000, he helped to resolve the mystery of '' Necropsar leguati'' from the World Museum Liverpool
World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...
, which turned out to be an albinistic
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
specimen of the grey trembler.
Personal life
Olson was married to his long-time colleague Helen F. James from 1981 until their divorce in 2006.
Honors
Olson has been decorated as one of the world's foremost paleornithologists. He was also the 1994 recipient of the Loye and Alden Miller Research Award The Loye and Alden Miller Research Award, now known as the AOS Miller Award, was established in 1993 by the Cooper Ornithological Society (COS) to recognize lifetime achievement in ornithological research. The namesakes were Loye H. Miller and his ...
. He was formerly curator of birds at the United States National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...
; , he held an emeritus position in the institution.
Several prehistoric bird species have been named after Olson, including '' Nycticorax olsoni'', ''Himantopus olsoni
Stilt is a common name for several species of birds in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes those known as avocets. They are found in brackish or saline wetlands in warm or hot climates.
They have extremely long legs, hence the grou ...
'', '' Puffinus olsoni'', '' Primobucco olsoni'', '' Gallirallus storrsolsoni'', and '' Quercypodargus olsoni''. In addition, a sand stargazer
Sand stargazers are blennioids; perciform marine fish of the family Dactyloscopidae. Found in temperate to tropical waters of North and South America; some may also inhabit brackish environments. The giant sand stargazer (''Dactylagnus mundus'' ...
fish, '' Storrsia olsoni'' has its binomial derived from and honouring Olson, who collected the type off Brazil.
References
External links
Biography
* ttps://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090927103457/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/object_mar00.html Hawaii's Vanished Birds – About the research work by Olson and James
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Storrs Lovejoy
American ornithologists
Scientists from Chicago
1944 births
2021 deaths