James Brown (ecologist)

James Hemphill Brown
Born	(1942-09-25) September 25, 1942 (age 82) United States
Alma mater	Cornell University University of Michigan
Known for	Macroecology Metabolic theory of ecology
Scientific career
Fields	Ecology
Institutions	University of New Mexico
Doctoral advisor	Emmet T. Hooper

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

Brown is an ecologist and, as of 2001, a Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of New Mexico. ^[1] His research has focused on three main areas of ecology:

1. The population and community ecology of rodents and harvester ants in the Chihuahuan Desert.
2. Large-scale ecological patterns, including the distribution of body size, abundance, and geographic range of animals. This work led to the development of macroecology, a term coined in a paper Brown co-authored with Brian Maurer of Michigan State University. ^[2]
3. The Metabolic Theory of Ecology, 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 for his contributions to the field, including his work on the metabolic theory of ecology. ^[3]

Between 1969 and 2011, Brown was awarded over $18.4 million in research grants. ^[1]

Education and honors

Education

Brown received a bachelors with honors in 1963 before obtaining his PhD in 1967: ^[1]

• Bachelor of Arts, Zoology, 1963, Cornell University
• PhD, Zoology, 1967, University of Michigan

Honors

Honors James Brown has received include: ^[1]

• American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow, 1988
• C. Hart Merriam Award (American Society of Mammalogists) 1989
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1995
• Eugene P. Odum Award for Education (Ecological Society of America), 2001 ^[4]
• Marsh Ward for Career Achievement, (British Ecological Society), 2002
• Robert H. MacArthur Award (Ecological Society of America), 2005
• Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 2005

Portal

In 1977, Brown, in collaboration with Diane Davidson and James Reichman, initiated a research project in the Chihuahuan Desert near Portal, Arizona, to study competition between rodents and ants and their influence on the annual plant community. ^[5]

Books

• Brown, J.H.; Gibson, A.C. (1983). Biogeography (1st ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
• Real, L.; Brown, J.H. (1991). Foundations of Ecology . Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN   9780226705941.
• Genoways, H.H.; Brown, J.H. (1993). Biology of the Heteromyidae. American Society of Mammalogists. ISBN   978-0935868661.
• Brown, J.H. (1995). Macroecology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN   9780226076157.
• Brown, J.H.; Lomolino, M.V. (1998). Biogeography (2nd ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer.
• Brown, J.H.; West, G.B. (2000). Scaling in Biology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780195131420.
• Lomolino, M.V.; Sax, D.F.; Brown, J.H. (2004). Foundations of Biogeography. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN   9780226492360.
• Lomolino, M.V.; Riddle, B.R.; Brown, J.H. (2005). Biogeography (3rd ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer.
• Storch, D.; Marquet, P.A.; Brown, J.H. (2007). Scaling in Biodiversity. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521876025.
• Lomolino, M.V.; Riddle, B.R.; Whittaker, R.J.; Brown, J.H. (2009). Biogeography (4th ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer. ISBN   9780878934867.
• Smith, F.A.; Gittleman, J.L.; Brown, J.H. (2014). Foundations of Macroecology (1st ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN   9780226115337.

See also

• Metabolic theory of ecology

References

1. "James Hemphill Brown Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). University of New Mexico. July 26, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 22, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2014.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
2. Brown, James H.; Maurer, Brian A. (1989). "Macroecology: the division of food and space among species on continents" (PDF). Science. 243 (4895): 1145–1150. Bibcode:1989Sci...243.1145B. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.170.3029 . doi:10.1126/science.243.4895.1145. PMID   17799895. S2CID   14508955. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 24, 2012. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
3. Brown, James H.; Gillooly, James F.; Allen, Andrew P.; Savage, Van M.; West, Geoffrey B. (2004). "Toward a metabolic theory of ecology" (PDF). Ecology. 85 (7): 1771–1789. doi:10.1890/03-9000. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
4. "Eugene P. Odum Award" (PDF). Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America: 17–18. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
5. Resetarits Jr., William J.; Bernardo, Joseph (1998). Experimental Ecology: Issues and Perspectives. Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-515042-1.

External links

• "New York Times" article about Dr. Brown's work on biological scaling
• Home Page Archived 2016-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
• "Dr. Brown's work on the origin of biological scaling laws featured on PBS NOVA special 'Hunting the Hidden Dimension' on YouTube