George M. Woodwell
George Masters Woodwell (October 23, 1928 – June 18, 2024) was an American ecologist. He founded several programs in ecology, first at Brookhaven National Laboratory then at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and then at the Woods Hole Research Center, which he founded in 1985 (Now known as Woodwell Climate Research Center).
He is best known for his work on the effects of ionizing radiation on forest ecosystems,[1] his work to have the pesticide DDT banned from use in the United States, and his work to call attention to the threat of climate change as a result of combustion of fossil fuels. Woodwell was one of the first scientists to sound the alarm about climate change, testifying before Congress about climate change impacts in 1986.[2][3]
He saw a role for science in environmental policy. In the early 1970s he worked with colleagues in the law to help launch the national environmental organizations that continue to blend science and law in defense of the environment. He was a founding board member of the Environmental Defense Fund (a direct result of his work with others on DDT on Long Island, NY), and the Natural Resources Defense Council, on whose board he served for 50 years. He also served a chair of the World Wildlife Fund (US). He is author/editor of several books and author of hundreds of scientific papers.
Early life and education
Woodwell was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts to parents who were educators: Philip McIntire Woodwell and Virginia Sellers.[4] He spent his childhood summers on family farm in Maine.[4] He attended the Boston Public Latin School[5][6] and completed his bachelor's degree in biology in 1950 at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire.[4] He served as an Ensign Lt. Jg in the US Navy from 1950 to 1953. He held a master's degree and a PhD in Botany from Duke University which he received in 1958.[7]
Career
Woodwell's first job was as professor of Botany at the University of Maine. He taught there for three years.[8]
In 1961, he began working at Brookhaven National Laboratory. In a seminal experiment at Brookhaven, Woodwell placed a source of ionizing radiation (cesium) at the center of an Oak-Pine Forest and, over the course of ten years, documented the changes in structure and function of the forest plants. He concluded what is now widely-accepted, that organisms with the most sophisticated structure will die first when exposed to chronic stress. Simpler organisms are more resilient to chronic stress. He extrapolated to posit that the results he found in the Long Island forest ecosystem were also true of the global ecosystem: that natural systems will degrade in a predictable pattern when exposed to chronic stress.[8]
His research on pesticides focused on DDT where he and fellow scientists were among the first to warn of the harmful effects of DDT on wildlife. That work helped lead to a ban on the use of DDT in the US.[4] It was this group of scientists and lawyers who established the Environmental Defense Fund in 1967 as a result of their work on DDT.[8][9]
Woodwell has done extensive research on carbon budgeting in North American forests and estuaries.[6] He was among the first to recognize that climate change created a positive feedback system: that the warming fed the warming, threatening an increase in the pace of climate change over time.[citation needed] In 1972, Woodwell held a conference, titled Carbon and the Biosphere, at Brookhaven with over 50 biologists, climatologists, and oceanographers. It was the first international gathering to directly address climate change. In 1979, the Carter administration asked Woodwell and four other scientists to create a report on the ecological impact of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. According to James Gustave Speth, then chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, “The report predicted ‘a warming that will probably be conspicuous within the next 20 years,’ and it called for early action."[10]
In 1985, Woodwell founded the the Woods Hole Research Center.[11] Under his leadership the Woods Hole Research Center developed climate research programs around the world, including in the Amazon Basin, the Arctic, Cape Cod, and a program to map the decline of forests worldwide, using satellite imagery. He and his staff were instrumental in producing the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992, which was approved by 92 countries at the Rio Climate Summit.[citation needed]
Personal life
Woodwell and his wife Katharine had four children together.[7]
Woodwell died on June 18, 2024, at his home in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.[12][13]
Awards and honors
Woodwell was made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1980[14] and a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1990.[7]
In 1997, Woodwell was awarded the 3rd Annual Heinz Award in the Environment [15] and in 2001 he was awarded the Volvo Environment Prize.[16]
In 2020, the Woods Hole Research Center was renamed to the Woodwell Climate Research Center to emphasize the scientific focus on climate change and honor the founder, George Woodwell.[17]
Books
- A World to Live In: An Ecologist's Vision for a Plundered Planet (MIT Press, 2016)[18]
References
- ^ "Dr. George Woodwell, Climate Science Pioneer, Woods Hole Research Center —". Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2017-07-29.
- ^ Hauter, Wenonah, Frackopoly (2016)
- ^ Mooney, Chris. "30 years ago scientists warned Congress on global warming. What they said sounds eerily familiar". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d Encyclopedia. 2003. Woodwell, George Masters (1928 – ) American Ecologist. https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/woodwell-george-masters-1928-american-ecologist Archived 2018-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ George M. Woodwell, President 1977-1978. 1977. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 58(3): 7
- ^ a b The Woods Hole Research Center. 2015. George Masters Woodwell Biography. http://whrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/gwoodwell1.pdf Archived 2015-09-22 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Schneider, Keith. "George Woodwell, 95, Influential Ecologist on Climate Change, Dies". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c https://www.esa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/94/2022/02/Woodwell_GMpb.pdf
- ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/20/science/george-woodwell-dead.html
- ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/20/science/george-woodwell-dead.html
- ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/20/science/george-woodwell-dead.html
- ^ Iafrate, Jayne M. (June 19, 2024). "George Woodwell, Leader in Climate Studies, Dies at 95". Cape News. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ Roberts, Becca (June 20, 2024). "George Woodwell, Scientist Who Helped Shape Environmental Policy, Dies At The Age Of 95". Fior Reports. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "George Masters Woodwell | American Academy of Arts and Sciences".
- ^ "The Heinz Awards, George Woodwell profile". Archived from the original on 2009-08-25. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
- ^ "Volvo Environment Prize". Archived from the original on 2017-11-09. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
- ^ "Woods Hole Research Center Changes Name to Woodwell Climate Research Center". CapeCod.com. 2020-08-20. Archived from the original on 2021-04-18. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
- ^ Fahrenkamp-Uppenbrink, Julia (2016). "Envisioning a different future A World to Live in an Ecologist's Vision for a Plundered Planet George M. Woodwell MIT Press, 2016. 243 pp". Science. 353 (6294): 37–38. doi:10.1126/science.aag1405.
