James Hemphill Brown (born September 25, 1942) is an American biologist and academic known for his contributions to ecology. Brown is an

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and, as of 2001, a Distinguished Professor of Biology at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

. His research has focused on three main areas of ecology: # The

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

and

community ecology In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological communit ...

rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

and

harvester ants Harvester ant is a common name for any of the species or genera of ants that collect seeds (called seed predation), or mushrooms as in the case of '' Euprenolepis procera'', which are stored in the nest in communal chambers called granaries. T ...

in the Chihuahuan Desert. # Large-scale ecological patterns, including the distribution of body size, abundance, and geographic range of animals. This work led to the development of

macroecology Macroecology is a subfield in ecology that uses a methodological approach that investigates the empirical patterns and mechanistic processes by which the particulate components of complex ecological systems generate emergent structures and dynamics ...

, a term coined in a paper Brown co-authored with Brian Maurer of

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

. # The

Metabolic Theory of Ecology The metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) is the ecological component of the more general Metabolic Scaling Theory and Kleiber's law. It posits that the metabolic rate of organisms is the fundamental biological rate that governs most observed pattern ...

, which seeks to explain ecological patterns based on metabolic principles. In 2005, Brown was awarded the Robert H. MacArthur Award by the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

for his contributions to the field, including his work on the metabolic theory of ecology. Between 1969 and 2011, Brown was awarded over $18.4 million in research grants.

Education and honors

Education

Brown received a bachelors with honors in 1963 before obtaining his PhD in 1967: *

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, Zoology, 1963,

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 ...

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

, Zoology, 1967, University of Michigan

Honors

Honors James Brown has received include: *American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow, 1988 * C. Hart Merriam Award (

American Society of Mammalogists The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence ...

) 1989 *Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, 1995 *Eugene P. Odum Award for Education (Ecological Society of America), 2001 *Marsh Ward for Career Achievement, (

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

), 2002 * Robert H. MacArthur Award (

), 2005 *Member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, 2005

Portal

In 1977, Brown, in collaboration with Diane Davidson and James Reichman, initiated a research project in the Chihuahuan Desert near Portal,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, to study competition between rodents and ants and their influence on the annual plant community.

Books

* * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

"New York Times" article about Dr. Brown's work on biological scaling

Home Page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James 1942 births Living people Cornell University alumni University of Michigan alumni American ecologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Ecological Society of America University of New Mexico faculty Presidents of the American Society of Naturalists