Joseph J. Hickey
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Joseph James Hickey (16 April 1907 - 31 August 1993) was an American
ornithologist 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 ...
who wrote the landmark ''Guide to Bird Watching'' and was instrumental in the activism that led to bans on organochlorine pesticides through his research work on the peregrine falcon. He was a professor of wildlife management at the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
where he obtained his master's degree under the guidance of Aldo Leopold. Born in New York City, he had an introduction to outdoor life through a scout leader and took to birdwatching while also founding along with nine others, the Bronx County Bird Club where he was a close friend of
Roger Tory Peterson Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, illustrator and educator, and one of the founding inspirations for the 20th-century environmental movement. Background Peterson was born in Jam ...
and Allan Cruickshank. Unlike many others, he chose to study history at the New York University but kept an interest in birds, attending talks at the American Museum of Natural History where he met and was greatly influenced by
Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr (; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher o ...
who had only recently moved to the United States. Mayr joined their birding outings as well, to learn about American birds and Hickey recalled later that Mayr's advise was that "everybody's got to have a problem" in the sense that one needed a long-term question to work on systematically in order to advance understanding. Hickey was a champion 1-mile runner and was a track coach at New York University. Mayr suggested that Hickey should study biology, and this led to Hickey taking evening courses leading to a degree in biology. He was then invited by Aldo Leopold to the University of Wisconsin in 1941, and he began studies towards a master's degree. In 1943 he wrote, as his master's dissertation, a ''Guide to Bird Watching'' which was a landmark publication inspired by the British work, ''The Art of Bird Watching'' by E.M. Nicholson. He later helped the posthumous publication of Aldo Leopold's ''Sand County Almanac'' in 1949. He then moved, with his wife Margaret Brooks, to the University of Michigan with a Guggenheim Fellowship to work on a PhD on avian populations based on bird banding studies. He moved back to the University of Wisconsin and worked in the department of wildlife management there. His studies on peregrine falcons and the thinning of egg shells were critical in the banning of
DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...
in the US. He was also a popular and influential teacher. Among the awards he received were the Aldo Leopold, the Arthur A. Allen and the
Eisenmann Medal The Eisenmann Medal is awarded by the Linnaean Society of New York (LSNY) in recognition of the recipient's ornithological excellence and encouragement of amateur efforts in ornithology and birding. The medal commemorates the ornithologist and pro ...
s apart from an Elliott Coues Award.


References


External links


Tribute to Joe Hickey

A Guide to Birdwatching (1975)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hickey, Joseph 1907 births 1993 deaths New York University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty American ornithologists 20th-century American zoologists University of Michigan alumni