Don E. Wilson
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Don Ellis Wilson (born April 30, 1944 in
Davis, Oklahoma Davis is a city in Garvin and Murray counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 2,683 at the 2010 census. History Davis is named after Samuel H. Davis, who moved to Washita in what was then Indian Territory in 1887. At the time ...
) is an American zoologist. His main research field is
mammalogy In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part o ...
, especially the group of
bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
s which he studied in 65 countries around the world.


Career

Wilson spent his childhood and youth in Nebraska, Texas, Oregon and Washington. After finishing high school in
Bisbee, Arizona Bisbee is a city in and the county seat of Cochise County in southeastern Arizona, United States. It is southeast of Tucson and north of the Mexican border. According to the 2020 census, the population of the town was 4,923, down from 5,575 i ...
in 1961 he graduated to
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
from the
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...
in 1965. Still an under-graduate in 1964, he made his first expedition to the tropics, to which he travelled many times in the subsequent decades to study the mammalian fauna. After working for the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
in a
fire lookout tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...
in the
Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often consider ...
for one summer, he attended the
graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...
of 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 ...
, where he graduated respectively in the discipline biology to
Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
in 1967 and promoted to
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1970. During this period he spent the summer months working as a naturalist for the
U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
in the
Sandia Mountains The Sandia Mountains (Southern Tiwa: ''Posu gai hoo-oo'', Keres: ''Tsepe,'' Navajo: ''Dził Nááyisí''; Tewa: ''O:ku:p’į'', Northern Tiwa: ''Kep’íanenemą''; Towa: ''Kiutawe'', Zuni: ''Chibiya Yalanne'') are a mountain range located in ...
. His master thesis dealt with the relationships of five ''
Peromyscus ''Peromyscus'' is a genus of rodents. They are commonly referred to as deer mice or deermice, not to be confused with the chevrotain or "mouse deer". They are New World mice only distantly related to the common house and laboratory mouse, ''Mu ...
'' species in the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico, his dissertation with the small tropical insectivorous bat '' Myotis nigricans''. From 1986 to 1988, Wilson was president of the
American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists ...
. In 1992, he was president of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. In addition, he was editor of the ''
Journal of Mammalogy The ''Journal of Mammalogy'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Mammalogists. Both the society and the journal were established in 1919. The journal covers rese ...
'' for five years, and editor of the publications ''
Mammalian Species ''Mammalian Species'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Mammalogists. The journal publishes accounts of 12–35 mammal species yearly. The articles summarize the current ...
'' and ''Special Publications'' for three years. He also worked in various editorial boards. He is on the board of the organizations
Bat Conservation International Bat Conservation International (BCI) is an international nongovernmental organization working to conserve bats and their habitats through conservation, education, and research efforts. BCI was founded in 1982 by bat biologist Merlin Tuttle, who ...
, the Biodiversity Foundation for Africa, Integrated Conservation Research and in the Lubee Bat Conservancy.


Publications

Wilson published more than 270 scientific publications, including the book ''Mammals of New Mexico'' and three monographs on bats. In 1997, the book ''Bats in Question – The Smithsonian Answer Book'' was published. In 2005, he was co-editor (along with DeeAnn M. Reeder) of the reference work ''
Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...
''. Since 2009, he is co-editor (with
Russell Mittermeier Russell Alan Mittermeier (born November 8, 1949) is a primatologist and herpetologist. He has written several books for both popular and scientist audiences, and has authored more than 300 scientific papers. Biography Russell A. Mittermeier is ...
) of the book series ''
Handbook of the Mammals of the World ''Handbook of the Mammals of the World'' (''HMW'') is a book series from the publisher Lynx Edicions. The nine volumes were published from 2009 to 2019. Each mammal family is assessed in a full text introduction with photographs and each species h ...
'', from the Spanish publishing house
Lynx Edicions Lynx Edicions is a Spanish publishing company specializing in ornithology and natural history. History Lynx Edicions was founded in Barcelona by , a lawyer and collector; , a naturalist; and , a medical doctor and writer. Since 2002, the company ...
. In addition, he published the books ''Animal'', ''Human'', ''Smithsonian Handbook of Mammals'' and ''Mammal'' for the publisher
Dorling Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages. It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...
. He also authored a field guide to the North American mammal fauna as well as the work ''Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals''.


Honors

Wilson won several awards, including the Smithsonian Institution Awards for outstanding contributions in the field of tropical biology, the Outstanding Publication Award from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Gerrit S. Miller Award from the North American Symposium on Bat Research, and the Hartley H. T. Jackson Award of the American Society of Mammalogists. In addition he received recognition of the Asociacion Mexicana de Mastozoologia for his outstanding scientific achievement and he received an honorary membership of the American Society of Mammalogists. A species of snake, '' Myriopholis wilsoni'', is named in honor of Don E. Wilson.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Wilson, D.E.", p. 287).


Personal life

Wilson lives with his wife, whom he married in 1962 in
Gainesville, Virginia Gainesville is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 17,287 in the 2020 census. History Gainesville was once a changing point for stagecoach horses on the Fauquier & Alexan ...
. The couple has two daughters (who work as tutors) and four granddaughters.


References


Further reading

*Perry, Matthew C. (ed.): ''The Washington Biologists' Field Club: Its Members and its history (1900-2006)''. Washington Biologists' Field Club, Washington, DC 2007, , pp. 290–291.


External links


Member profile Smithsonian National Museum of Natural HistoryList of publications by Don E. Wilson at Google Scholar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Don Ellis 1944 births American mammalogists Living people People from Davis, Oklahoma People from Gainesville, Virginia Scientists from Virginia University of Arizona alumni University of New Mexico alumni