G. Evelyn Hutchinson, ecosystem ecologist and passionate environmentalist

Background/Question/Methods

The questions are twofold:  Why does understanding the history of ecology matter to our present and future work as ecologists?  And what methods have been used in studying  this history? As background to this talk about G. Evelyn Hutchinson we look to the origins of ecosystem ecology. Hutchinson was called “The Father of Ecology” but he himself declared that this title belonged to Darwin, for which a good case can be made.  But  Alexander von Humboldt  can be cited as an ancestor as well. Both he and Hutchinson studied the physical environment as well as the organisms in a variety of ecosystems. Hutchinson and his postdoctoral student Lindeman developed quantitative ecosystem methods. Both the first ecosystem paper published in Ecology and its reception must be explored.  Hutchinson’s own theoretical and experimental work centered on aquatic ecosystems. His  environmental work branched out to include not only lakes and their eutrophication, but also his passion for preserving biodiversty. for example, on the island of Aldabra, and his role in banning the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. His passionate but quiet environmentalism led to the important work of others in this session. 

Results/Conclusions

The methods used in uncovering this ecological history for the book, G. Evelyn Hutchinson and the Invention of Modern Ecology  included  the publications of Hutchinson himself and of his graduate and postdoctoral students, and interviews with these students and with his colleagues and other scientists with whom he worked. In addition,  there were hundreds of extant letters, his own and those he received, not all of them to and from scientists.  He wrote about his trip to the Royal Society in London to “save” Aldabra and its giant tortoises in a letter to a good friend, writer Rebecca West. . His report on the use of Agent Orange to the American National Academy of Sciences  was discovered through an interview with one of Hutchinson’s  Yale colleagues.  His scientific work for which he was awarded this country’s top environmental prizes is discussed in the award citations. In conclusion,  there are many types of sources for ecological history, Hutchinson’s role as both experimental scientist and inventor of ecological theory,  together with his ability to apply this knowledge to  important then current environmental problems should inspire our current young ecologists to do both theoretical and practical  research in relation to today's ecological problems.