The C. Hart Merriam Award is given annually by the American Society of Mammalogists for "outstanding research in mammalogy". [1]
The Merriam Award was established in 1974. Before 1996 the award was given for "outstanding contributions to mammalogy through research, teaching, and service". [1] The award is named in honor of C. Hart Merriam (1855–1942). He was not only a founding member of the American Society of Mammalogists and a physician with an M.D. from Columbia University, but also "naturalist, ethnologist, explorer, scholar, lecturer, author, personal friend of Presidents ..." [2]
In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems. Mammalogy has also been known as "mastology", "theriology", and "therology". The archive of number of mammals on earth is constantly growing, but is currently set at 6,495 different mammal species including recently extinct. There are 5,416 living mammals identified on earth and roughly 1,251 have been newly discovered since 2006. The major branches of mammalogy include natural history, taxonomy and systematics, anatomy and physiology, ethology, ecology, and management and control. The approximate salary of a mammalogist varies from $20,000 to $60,000 a year, depending on their experience. Mammalogists are typically involved in activities such as conducting research, managing personnel, and writing proposals.
James Hemphill Brown is an American biologist and academic.
Clinton Hart Merriam was an American zoologist, mammalogist, ornithologist, entomologist, ecologist, ethnographer, geographer, naturalist and physician. He was commonly known as the "father of mammalogy," a branch of zoology referring to the study of mammals.
The American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) was founded in 1919. Its primary purpose is to encourage the study of mammals, and professions studying them. There are over 4,500 members of this society, and they are primarily professional scientists who emphasize the importance of public policy and education. There are several ASM meetings held each year, and the society manages several publications such as the Journal of Mammalogy, Special Publications, Mammalian Species, and Society Pamphlets. The best known of these is the Journal of Mammalogy. The ASM also maintains The Mammal Image Library which contains more than 1,300 mammal slides. A president, vice president, recording secretary, secretary-treasurer, and journal editor are all elected by the members to be officers of the society. In addition, ASM is composed of thirty one committees, including the Animal Care and Use Committee, the Conservation Awards Committee, the International Relations Committee, and the Publications Committee. It also provides numerous grants and awards for research and studies on mammals. These awards can go to both scientists and students. The ASM also lists employment opportunities for their members.
Merriam's pocket gopher is a species of rodent in the family Geomyidae. It is endemic to Mexico, where it is found in the area of the Valley of Mexico and the Valley of Toluca at elevations from 1800 to 4000 m. Its favored habitats are the Zacatonal grassland and temperate pine-oak woodlands, as well as farmland and rangeland. Its karyotype has 2n = 36 and FN = 68.
The dwarf shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae endemic to Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming in the United States. The type locality is Estes Park, Colorado, USA.
Neotoma leucodon is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. Although originally named from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, as a species by Clinton Hart Merriam, the white-toothed woodrat was long considered to be a synonym of the white-throated woodrat. Molecular data, however, indicate the populations east of the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Trans-Pecos Texas represent a different species than morphologically similar populations west of the river.
Vernon Orlando Bailey (1864–1942) was an American naturalist who specialized in mammalogy. He was employed by the Bureau of Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). His contributions to the Bureau of Biological Survey numbered roughly 13,000 specimens including many new species. Bailey published 244 monographs and articles during his career with the USDA, and is best known for his biological surveys of Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Oregon.
James Lloyd Patton, is an American evolutionary biologist and mammalogist. He is emeritus professor of integrative biology and curator of mammals at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley and has made extensive contributions to the systematics and biogeography of several vertebrate taxa, especially small mammals.
Don Ellis Wilson is an American zoologist. His main research field is mammalogy, especially the group of bats which he studied in 65 countries around the world.
Charles Joseph Krebs is a professor emeritus of population ecology in the University of British Columbia Department of Zoology. He is also Thinker-in-residence at the Institute for Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra, Australia. He is renowned for his work on the fence effect, as well as his widely used ecology textbook Ecology: The Experimental Analysis of Distribution and Abundance.
Stanley A. Boutin is a professor of population ecology in the University of Alberta Department of Biological Sciences. He is scientific co-director of the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute and an Alberta Biodiversity Conservation Chair.
Barbara Lawrence, sometimes known as Barbara Lawrence Schevill, was an American paleozoologist and mammalogist known for her studies of canids, porpoises and howler monkeys and her work as the mammal curator at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ).
Jocelyn Mary Taylor was an American mammalogist, who served as president of the American Society of Mammalogists from 1982 to 1984. She was also an honorary trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. As a pioneer for women in the field of mammalogy, Taylor actively worked to broaden the study, doing so as a member of the American Society of Mammalogists, as a university professor, and through conducting her research, publishing numerous works.
Thomas H. Kunz was an American biologist specializing in the study of bats. He was credited with coining the study of aeroecology; additionally, he wrote several fundamental textbooks and publications on bat ecology.
Nancy B. Simmons is an American zoologist, mammalogist, professor, and author. Specializing in bats, Simmons has conducted extensive research on the morphology and evolutionary history of numerous bat species. She is also the curator-in-charge of the Department of Mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History and a professor at the Richard Gilder Graduate School.
Robert James Baker was an American mammalogist. He studied bats, as well as the effects of radiation on animals.
Barbara Hibbs Blake was an American mammalogist and college professor.
Maria Denise Dearing is an American ecological physiologist and mammalogist. As a distinguished professor at the University of Utah, Dearing's research has focused on animals and toxic diets and diseases.
Michael A. Mares is an American zoologist, academic, and author. He is the Emeritus Director and Curator at the Sam Noble Museum, as well as a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology at the University of Oklahoma.