Albert Hazen Wright (August 15, 1879 – July 5, 1970) was an American herpetologist and professor at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. He was also an honorary member of the International Ornithological Congress. He did a great deal of study of the

Okefenokee Swamp The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000-acre (177,000 ha), peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia–Florida line in the United States. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Ref ...

. In 1955 he won the

Eminent Ecologist Award The Eminent Ecologist Award is prize awarded annually to a senior ecologist in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the science of ecology. The prize is awarded by the Ecological Society of America. According to the statutes, the recipient ...

Biography

Albert Hazen Wright was born on August 15, 1879, in Hilton, New York, to parents Delos C. Wright and Emily Hazen. His parents also had a younger daughter named Mabel. On June 25, 1910, Wright married his wife, Anna Maria Allen, whom he met at Cornell University. Wright died on July 5, 1970, in Ithaca, New York, at the age of ninety.

Education and career

Wright attended Hilton High School and Brockport Normal School, and upon graduating high school, enrolled at

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

, where he studied herpetology. He earned his PhD from Cornell in vertebrate zoology in 1908. Both Wright and his wife were interested in studying

amphibian Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

s; as such, they would eventually co-author the 1949 ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada'' and ''Handbook of Frogs and Toads of the United States and Canada''Wright, Albert Hazen after years of extensive travel. The handbooks were finally published in 1957 and outline over 300 species. Perhaps Wright's most notable work is that which was completed between 1921 and 1922 at Okefinokee Swamp in Georgia; as a result, Wright authored the book ''Life-Histories of the Frogs of Okefinokee Swamp'', which he originally intended to be used as a reference source for teachers and students alike. It outlined the reproductive process of various amphibian communities native to the swamp. A recent edition of this work contains a foreword by J. Whitfield Gibbons. Furthermore, he also worked with Frances Harper, a scientist who researched the culture behind Okefinokee Swamp. In addition to herpetology, Wright was also interested in

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

and researched the Wright family, as well as the history of Cornell University.

Professional affiliations

Wright's achievements include being named an honorary member of the International Ornithological Congress, being elected the second vice president of the Dewitt Historical Society, and winning the Eminent Ecologist Award in 1955.

Legacy

Wright is commemorated in the scientific name of a subspecies of lizard, '' Urosaurus ornatus wrighti.''Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Wright, A M. A. and A. H.", pp. 289-290). Wright and his wife are jointly commemorated in the scientific name of a subspecies of snake, '' Storeria dekayi wrightorum''.

Major publications

* ''Life-Histories of the Frogs of Okefinokee Swamp'' – 1931 * ''Our Georgia-Florida Frontier: The Okefenokee Swamp, its History and Cartography'' – 1945 * ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada'' – 1957 * ''Handbook of Frogs and Toads of the United States and Canada'' – 1957

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Albert H. 1879 births 1970 deaths American herpetologists Cornell University alumni Cornell University faculty People from Monroe County, New York Scientists from New York (state)