Nelson Hairston

Nelson Hairston

Nelson Hairston Sr. (16 October 1917- 31 July 2008) was a preeminent ecologist of the 20th century. Hairston is well-known for his work in ecology and human disease. In the field of ecology he is famous for championing the idea of the trophic cascade, on which he published the provocative “Green World Hypothesis” with colleagues Frederick E. Smith and Lawrence B. Slobodkin[1]. Nelson was also deeply interested in the factors that control human disease and was an adviser to the World Health Organization for many years[2].

Contents

Early life

Nelson was born on October 16, 1917 in the Cooleemee area of Davie County, North Carolina. He was the second of two boys to Margaret George Hairston (1884-1963) and Peter Hairston (1841-1975). The Hairstons owned plantations all around Henry County, Virginia, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, North Carolina, and Lowndes County, Mississippi. He was born on the Cooleemee Plantation, which was built by his grandfather, Peter Wilson Hairston (1819-1886).

Early career

Nelson was interested in ecology from an early age. He graduated from the department of Zoology at the University of North Carolina with both a BS and MS. Hairston continued his studies at Northwestern University under the supervision of Dr. Orlando Park. His PhD was interrupted by War World II, where he served his country by helping treat and prevent the transmission of malaria in the South Pacific. After the war, Nelson returned to his PhD, which was on the distribution of salamanders in Appalachia.[2] These early experiences with studying the ecology of salamanders and the treatment of disease began his lifelong interest in the ecology and prevention of disease.

Academic work

Professor of Zoology

Hairston spent most of his career (27 years) as a professor of Zoology at the University of Michigan and director of their Museum of Zoology. During this time Nelson helped to make the University of Michigan one of the United States preeminent graduate programs in ecology. Afterwards he spent 12 years as a professor at the University of North Carolina as a Kenan Professor of Biology[2]. Throughout Hairston’s career, he focused most of his work on the role trophic interactions, such as the trophic cascade, has on determining the species composition of communities of co-existing organisms.[3]

Adviser to the UN’s World Health Organization

Hairston’s work on human disease was equally controversial. Nelson, along with a handful of other colleagues, championed the idea that disease was an ecological problem that could be solved by understanding the ecology of germs and how we interact with our ecosystems. This once controversial view is now well accepted by epidemiologists and others in the health profession. Hairston’s views on disease treatment and management were applied through the UN’s World Health Organization, where he served as an adviser on schistosomiasis in countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the South Pacific.[2]

Retirement

Hairston retired at the age of 69. Despite retiring, Hairston remained an active and engaged scientist. Post retirement he published three books, including, “Ecological Experiments”, which was translated into several different languages[2]. During this time Hairston was also nominated to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was given the Eminent Ecologist Award by the Ecological Society of America.

References

  1. ^ Hairston NG, Smith FE, Slobodkin LB (1960) Community structure, population control and competition. American Naturalist 94:421-425
  2. ^ a b c d e http://www.cnah.org/news.asp?id=448
  3. ^ Hairston NG Jr, and Hairston NG Sr. (1997) Does food web complexity eliminate trophic-level dynamics? American Naturalist 149: 1001-1007

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Chris Hairston — No. 75     Buffalo Bills Offensive tackle Personal information Date of birth: April 26, 1989 (1989 04 26) (age 22) …   Wikipedia

  • David Nelson (American football) — For the former football coach and NCAA rules committee chairman, see David M. Nelson. David Nelson Nelson in the 2011 preseason. No. 86     Buffalo Bills …   Wikipedia

  • Trophic cascade — Trophic cascades occur when predators in a food chain suppress the abundance of their prey, thereby releasing the next lower trophic level from predation (or herbivory if the intermediate trophic level is an herbivore). For example, if the… …   Wikipedia

  • Canyon del Oro High School — Infobox US school name = Canyon del Oro High School © [http://www.amphi.com/schools/cdo/ Canyon del Oro High School] | image caption = The Dorado mascot of Canyon del Oro High School motto = Más Allá (Spanish, Go Beyond ) established = 1962 type …   Wikipedia

  • Liste des joueurs de NBA — Cette liste regroupe l ensemble des joueurs ayant évolué en National Basketball Association. Les joueurs actuels, jouant en NBA sont inscrits en gras. Cette liste inclut des joueurs de la National Basketball League (NBL), de la Basketball… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Wilt Chamberlain — No. 13 Center Personal information Date of birth August 21, 1936 Place of birth …   Wikipedia

  • Liste de zoologistes — Attention, il n est pas d usage en zoologie d utiliser d abréviation pour les noms des auteurs (contrairement aux usages de la botanique, voir ici). Cette liste ne constitue pas une liste officielle. Nous attirons l attention du lecteur sur son… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Chicago White Sox all-time roster — The following is a list of players and managers (* ), both past and current, who appeared at least in one regular season game for the Chicago White Sox franchise. Players in Bold are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Players in… …   Wikipedia

  • Lilies of the Field — Infobox Film name = Lilies of the Field caption= original film poster imdb id = 0057251 producer = Ralph Nelson director = Ralph Nelson writer = James Poe starring = Sidney Poitier Lilia Skala music = Jerry Goldsmith cinematography = Ernest… …   Wikipedia

  • 2007 NFL Draft — General information Date(s) April 28–29, 2007 Time 12:00 PM EDT April 28 11:00 AM EDT April 29 Location …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”