NWRS History | Bio | Edward W. Nelson

<BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#660000" ALINK="#993300" VLINK="#663300" BACKGROUND="../assets/nf_bg.gif"> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="144"><A HREF="http://www.fws.gov/"><IMG SRC="../assets/nf_fws.gif" WIDTH="144" HEIGHT="24" BORDER="0" ALT="U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service"></A></TD> <TD WIDTH="59"><A HREF="../over/over_main_fs.html"><IMG SRC="../assets/nf_over.gif" WIDTH="59" HEIGHT="24" BORDER="0" ALT="Overview"></A></TD> <TD WIDTH="67"><A HREF="../chron/chron_main_fs.html"><IMG SRC="../assets/nf_chron.gif" WIDTH="67" HEIGHT="24" BORDER="0" ALT="Chronology"></A></TD> <TD WIDTH="71"><A HREF="bio_main_fs.html"><IMG SRC="../assets/nf_bio.gif" WIDTH="71" HEIGHT="24" BORDER="0" ALT="Biographies"></A></TD>  </TR> </TABLE> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="152" ALIGN="left"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="132"><IMG BORDER="0" HEIGHT="10" WIDTH="132" SRC="../assets/spacer.gif"></TD> <TD WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" HEIGHT="10" WIDTH="20" SRC="../assets/spacer.gif"></TD> </TR> <TR ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <TD WIDTH="132"><A HREF="../index.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG BORDER="0" HEIGHT="30" WIDTH="118" SRC="../assets/site_subnav_tag.gif" ALT="NWRS History main page."></A><BR> <IMG HEIGHT="93" WIDTH="120" SRC="../assets/bio_subnav_top.gif"><BR> <A HREF="bio_main_fs.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG BORDER="0" HEIGHT="20" WIDTH="46" SRC="../assets/bio_subnav_ah.gif" ALT="Listing A-H."></A><BR> <A HREF="bio_iq_fs.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG BORDER="0" HEIGHT="20" WIDTH="46" SRC="../assets/bio_subnav_iq.gif" ALT="Listing I-Q."></A><BR> <A HREF="bio_rz_fs.html" TARGET="_top"><IMG BORDER="0" HEIGHT="20" WIDTH="46" SRC="../assets/bio_subnav_rz.gif" ALT="Listing R-Z"></A></TD> <TD WIDTH="20"></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="400"> <TR> <TD WIDTH="400"><IMG BORDER="0" HEIGHT="10" WIDTH="400" SRC="../assets/spacer.gif"></TD> </TR> <TR ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <TD WIDTH="400"><TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="95%"> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#660000"><B>Edward W. Nelson</B></FONT><BR> (1855-1934) </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> </TD> </TR> <TR> <TD> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#660000">Edward W. Nelson was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, on May 8, 1955. He attended both Northwestern University, in 1875, and Johns Hopkins University, from 1876 to 1877, and he received an honorary MA from Yale and Sc.D. from George Washington University, both in 1920.</FONT></P> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#660000">Early in his field experience as a naturalist, Nelson corresponded with Henry Wetherbee Henshaw who later succeeded Clinton Hart Merriam as Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey in 1910. Henshaw encouraged Nelson to contact Spencer Fullerton Baird, who was Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Under Baird's guidance, Nelson collected specimens and data, and in 1877 Baird arranged a position for him as a weather observer for the U.S. Signal Corp in St. Michael, Alaska, where he worked until 1881. While in Alaska, Nelson collected almost 10,000 items of native Alaskan culture and recorded ethnographic information on Eskimo and Athabaskan cultures.</FONT></P> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#660000">Upon leaving Alaska in 1881, Nelson worked as a rancher in the Western United States while recuperating from tuberculosis. In 1890 he was well enough to continue his biological explorations for the Biological Survey and traveled widely in California and Mexico.</FONT></P> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#660000">In 1916, Nelson followed his mentor, Henry Henshaw, as Chief of the Bureau of Biological Survey in Washington, D.C., where he served until 1927. He authored three studies in the North American Fauna series which were issued by the Bureau of Biological Survey. Nelson's career as an explorer and naturalist spanned over five decades during which many species of plants and animals were named after him - a common practice of the times. The name of Edward Nelson was conferred on, among other things, a mountain range in California, a lagoon in Alaska, and an island at the mouth of the Yukon. In addition, over 100 species of plants, birds and mammals were named for him including a skunk ("Just so it is a good skunk," said Nelson), a squirrel, several mice, a woodpecker and a bat.</FONT></P> <P><FONT COLOR="#660000"></FONT></P> <HR NOSHADE SIZE="1"> <P ALIGN="left"><FONT COLOR="#660000" SIZE="2"><I>International Dictionary of Anthropologists</I>.<BR> Don Bloch. <I>Men Who Have Given Their Names</I>. Nature Magazine.</FONT></P></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <P></P> <HR NOSHADE SIZE="1"> <A HREF="../over/over_main_fs.html"><FONT SIZE="1">Overview</FONT></A><FONT SIZE="1"> | <A HREF="../chron/chron_main_fs.html">Chronology</A> | <A HREF="bio_main_fs.html">Biographies</A>  <BR> <A HREF="http://www.fws.gov/">U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service</A> | <A HREF="http://refuges.fws.gov/">National Wildlife Refuge System</A> </FONT></P> <P><FONT SIZE="1"><A HREF="http://refuges.fws.gov/comments.html">Comments</A></FONT></P></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </BODY>