Edward William Nelson

Edward William Nelson (May 8, 1855 - May 19, 1934) was an American naturalist and ethnologist. He was born in Manchester, NH. In 1871 together with his family, he became homeless due to the Chicago Fire. [citation
url = http://ebeltz.net/herps/biogappx.html#N
title = Biographies of People Honored in the Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America.
year = 2006
last1 = Beltz
first1 = Ellin
journal = Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained]

In 1877 Nelson joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Spencer Fullerton Baird was responsible for selecting Signal Officers for the remoter stations, and would choose men with scientific training who were prepared to study the lcoal flora and fauna. Baird sent Nelson to St. Michael, Alaska.

Nelson was the naturalist on board the USRC "Corwin", which sailed to Wrangel Island in search of the "USS Jeanette" in 1881. Nelson published his findings in the "Report upon Natural History Collections Made in Alaska between the Years 1877-1881" (1887). He also published his ethnological findings in "The Eskimo about Bering Strait" (1900).

In 1890 Nelson accepted an appointment as a Special Field Agent with the Death Valley Expedition under Clinton Hart Merriam, Chief of the Division of Ornithology and Mammalogy, United States Department of Agriculture. After this expedition he was ordered to conduct a field survey in Mexico, and Nelson remained in the country for the next fourteen years. Nelson continued to work for the Bureau of Biological Survey until 1929, being Chief of the Bureau from 1916 to 1927.

Nelson's Milksnake was named in his honor. The holotype was collected by Nelson and Edward Alphonso Goldman on July 18 1897. He worked with Goldman for ten years surveying Mexican terrestrial vertebrates.citation
url = http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/575/57509006.pdf
title = An Annotated List of the Species-Group Names Applied to the Lizard Genus Sceloporus.
first1 = Edwin L.
last1 = Bell
first2 = Hobart M.
last2 = Smith
first3 = David
last3 = Chiszar
year = 2003
journal = Acta Zoologica Mexicana
volume = 90
pages = 103–174]

Notes

References

* [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v052n02/p0135-p0148.pdf Obituary in the Auk]
* [http://siarchives.si.edu/findingaids/FARU7364.htm Smithsonian Institution Archives]