Michael Ellman Soulé (May 28, 1936 – June 17, 2020) 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 ...

, known for his work in promoting the idea of

conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an i ...

. Soulé was born in San Diego, California, the son of Berenice (Ellman) and Herman Herzoff. His father died when he was two, and he was adopted by his stepfather Alan Soulé. He earned a Ph.D. in 1964 at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in Biology under

Paul R. Ehrlich Paul Ralph Ehrlich (born May 29, 1932) is an American biologist known for his predictions and warnings about the consequences of population growth, including famine and resource depletion. Ehrlich is the Bing Professor Emeritus of Population ...

, and later became Research Professor (Emeritus) in Environmental Studies,

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...

. His Ph.D. thesis of 167 pages was entitled: Evolution and population phenetics of the side-blotched lizards (''Uta stansburiana'' and its relatives) on the islands in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Soulé was a cofounder and first president of the Society for Conservation Biology, founded in 1985. He served on the board of Round River Conservation Studies and the Wildlands Network. Soulé co-edited with Gary Lease a book of essays titled ''Reinventing nature?: responses to postmodern deconstruction'' (1995), which was a response to the arguments presented by environmental historian William Cronon and others in ''Uncommon ground: toward reinventing nature'' (1995). He has most recently spoken out against approaches to environmental conservation that discount the value of species diversity.

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Obituary from UCSC
1936 births 2020 deaths Writers from San Diego 20th-century American biologists 21st-century American biologists American conservation biologists University of California, Santa Cruz alumni University of Michigan faculty {{US-biologist-stub