Pioneers in Ecology and Evolution

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Nalini Nadkarni

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American ecologist who pioneered forest canopy research; first to access the canopy in Costa Rican and Pacific Northwest rainforests using mountain climbing equipment; discovered that decomposition from mosses and other plants create nutrient-rich canopy soil.

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Alexander von Humboldt

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Led to our current understanding of biogeography; influenced Charles Darwin.

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Sylvia Earle

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Early explorer of the deep ocean; first woman to serve as chief scientist at NOAA; deepest solo dive untethered.

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Ruth Patrick

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Member of National Academy of Sciences; used biodiversity to diagnose health of freshwater systems; advanced understanding of effects of pollution on rivers and lakes.

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Charles Darwin

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Led to the idea of evolution by natural selection.

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Alfred Russel Wallace

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Co-developed the idea of evolution by natural selection.

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Gregor Mendel

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Developed rules for how inheritance of traits occurred.

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Rosemary & Peter Grant

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Studied natural selection; discovered that natural selection can happen on the time scale of years rather than centuries or millennia.

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Scott Edwards

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Used evolutionary tools to investigate ecological questions like mate choice; linked birds to reptiles through genomics.

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Gerardo Ceballos

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Studied and publicized the extinction crisis; calculated an estimate of 1000x background rate of extinction; conducted large scale innovative conservation experiments.