Edmund Jaeger Biography

American biologist (1887–1983)Edmund Jaeger do*ented a state of near-hibernation in the common poorwill.

Edmund Carroll Jaeger, D.Sc., (January 28, 1887 – August 2, 1983) was an American biologist known for his works on desert ecology. He was born in Loup City, Nebraska to Katherine (née Gunther) and John Philip Jaeger,: V.I, p.159  and moved to Riverside, California in 1906 with his family. He was the first to do*ent, in The Condor, a state of extended torpor, approaching hibernation, in a bird, the common poorwill. He also described this in the National Geographic Magazine.

Life

Jaeger first attended the newly relocated Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles (in 1914), but moved to Palm Springs in 1915, where he taught at the one-room schoolhouse. At Palm Springs he met artist Carl Eytel,: 168–71  and authors J. Smeaton Chase and Charles Francis Saunders. These men formed what University of Arizona Professor Peter Wild called a "Creative Brotherhood" that lived in Palm Springs in the early 20th century. Other Brotherhood members included cartoonist and painter Jimmy Swinnerton, author George Wharton James, and photographers Fred Payne Clatworthy and Stephen H. Willard. The men lived near each other (like Jaeger, Eytel built his own cabin), traveled together throughout the Southwest, helped with each other's works, and exchanged photographs which appeared in their various books. He then returned to Occidental to complete his degree in 1918 and started teaching at Riverside Junior College. Retiring from teaching after 30 years, he worked the Riverside Municipal Museum in Riverside. During all these years Jaeger used his Palm Springs cabin for his research trips across the desert. Throughout his career he wrote many popular nature books and became known as the "dean of the California deserts".

Works

Books

(Listed in order of first publication.)
  • The Mountain Trees of Southern California: a Simple Guide-book for Tree Lovers. Nabu Press. 2010 . p.:132. ISBN:978-1177055239. LCCN:21001210. OCLC:8666171. Carl Eytel...furnished the sketches of the mountain animals.
  • Denizens of the Desert: A Book of Southwestern Mammals, Birds, and Reptiles. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1922. pp.:299. OCLC:1459267.
  • A Preliminary Report on the Flora of the Charleston Mountains of Nevada. Occasional papers of Riverside Junior College., v. 1, no. 1. Riverside, CA: The Junior College. 1927. p.:15. OCLC:5663721.
  • Birds of the Charleston Mountains of Nevada. Occasional papers of Riverside Junior College., v. 2, no. 1. Riverside, CA: The Junior College. 1927. p.:8. OCLC:16016140.
  • Denizens of the Mountains. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 1929. p.:168. ASIN:B00085C1KE. OCLC:716567.
  • A Dictionary of Greek and Latin Combining Forms used in Zoological Names (revised and enlarged from 1930:ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 1931. ASIN:B002AQF1BU. OCLC:10567568.
  • The California Deserts: A Visitor's Handbook (also 1933, 1938, 1955:ed.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1965. p.:220. ISBN:978-0804712231. OCLC:716807042. (Samuel Stillman Berry and Malcom Jennings Rogers contributed chapters)
  • Desert Wild Flowers. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1978 . ISBN:978-0804703659. OCLC:631689191.
  • A Source-book of Biological Names and Terms (3rd:ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 1978 . p.:323. ISBN:978-0398061791. OCLC:1524400. (illustrations by Merle Gish and the author)
  • Our Desert Neighbors. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1950. p.:329. ISBN:978-1121357754. OCLC:1436846.
  • A Source-book of Medical Terms. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 1953. ASIN:B000L3JHR8. OCLC:14670855. (Irvine H. Page was a co-author)
  • The Desert in Pictures. Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs Museum. 1955. p.:42. OCLC:9932064. (editor)
  • A Naturalist's Death Valley (5th:ed.). Palm Desert, CA: Death Valley '49ers, Inc. 1979 . p.:70. ASIN:B0007FK6VQ. OCLC:6573909.
  • The North American Deserts. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1957. pp.:320. ISBN:978-0804704984. OCLC:630598569. (Peveril Meigs contributed a chapter; illustrations by John D. Briggs, Lloyd Mason Smith, Morris Van Dame, and Jaeger )
  • The Biologist's Handbook of Pronunciations (first in 1960:ed.). Charleston, SC: Nabu Press. 2011. p.:340. ISBN:978-1175764539. OCLC:310096649. (illustrations by Morris Van Dame and Jaeger)
  • Desert Wildlife (revised and enlarged of 1950 Our Desert Neighbors:ed.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1961. p.:320. ISBN:978-0804701242. OCLC:637075718.
  • Introduction to the Natural History of Southern California (first as 1966:ed.). University of California Press. 1977. pp.:104. ISBN:978-0520032453. OCLC:22526487. (Arthur Clayton Smith was a co-author; illustrations by Gene M. Christman)

Articles

Jaeger contributed to over 25 magazines and journals: 443–54  including:

  • The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
  • The Auk
  • Cactus and Succulent Journal
  • Calico Print
  • The Condor
  • Desert Magazine
  • Fremontia
  • Journal of Mammalogy
  • National Geographic Magazine
  • Pacific Union Recorder
  • St. Nicholas Magazine
  • The Youth's Instructor

History of Palm Springs

  • "Art in a Desert Cabin". Desert Magazine. 11 (11): 15–19. September 1948.
  • "Forgotten Trails". Palm Springs Villager. 4 (2): 12–13, 28. September 1949.
  • "Monk of Palm Springs". Palm Springs Villager. 4 (6): 22. January 1950.
  • "From Cheese to Cash". Palm Springs Villager. 5 (87): 18–19, 38. February 1951.
  • "I Well Remember J. Smeaton Chase". Palm Springs Villager. 6 (8): 54–56, 58. March 1952.
  • "Tall Tales from Old Palm Springs". Palm Springs Villager. 6 (11): 14, 33. June 1952.

Archives of Jaeger's work

  • Much of Jaeger's original work is archived at the University of California, Riverside, Library Special Collections.
  • Also see: M*cripts and correspondence, OCLC:44935014 (Summary: biographical material, list of publications, newspapers articles and correspondence of Edmund C. Jaeger, Head of the Zoology Dept. at Riverside City College. 358 items in one box)

Honors

  • The "Edmund C. Jaeger Desert Ins*ute" on the Moreno Valley College (MVC) of the Riverside Community College District is named in his honor. MCV also offers an "Edmund C. Jaeger Endowed Scholarship".
  • In 1986 The Nature Conservancy completed development of the "Edmund C. Jaeger Nature Sanctuary" in the Chuckwalla Mountains near Desert Center, California. It was in the Chuckwalla Mountains that Jaeger discovered the poorwill, and after his death in 1983, his cremated remains were scattered in the same canyon.
  • The University of La Verne of La Verne, California, Cultural and Natural History Collections (formerly the Jaeger Museum), maintains personal and professional materials pertaining to the life of Edmund C. Jaeger, including his 1947 field notes recording his initial study of the common poorwill in hibernation. The Collections is located inside the Jaeger House, named in his honor.
  • Pacific Union College of Angwin, California, annually presents an "Edmund C. Jaeger Award" in biology and "Dr. Edmund C. Jaeger Scholarship Grant" in education to deserving students.
  • Designated as a Fellow of the California Native Plant Society in 1976.
  • Received the Auld Lang Syne Award from Occidental College in 1982.

Patronyms

Some 28 patronyms of Jaeger have been made,: 234–38  including:

  • Patronyms
  • Ivesia jaergi (Jaeger's mousetail or Jaeger's ivesia)
  • Caulostramina jaegeri (cliffdweller)
  • Astragalus jaegeri* (Lane Mountain milkvetch)
  • Penstemon thomsoniae subspecies jaegeri (Jaeger's beardtongue)
  • Draba jaegeri (variety of whitlow-gr* in seed)

References

  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Edmund C Jaeger Nature Sanctuary

Further reading

  • Bryant, James; Moses, Vince (February 1999). "Edmund Carroll Jaeger – Examining the Early Career of one of Southern California's Premier Naturalists" (PDF). Journal of the Riverside Historical Society (3). Riverside, CA: The Riverside Historical Society: 26–32. OCLC:46665568. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-08.
  • Eytel, Carl; Jaeger, Edmund C. (1905). Sketchbook 1904–1905. OCLC:32945154.
  • Findley, Rowe (1972). Great American Deserts. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. pp.:208. ISBN:978-0870441073. OCLC:516381. (Photography by Walter Meayers Edwards; foreword by Jaeger)
    • Findley, Rowe (1977). Les grands déserts américains (in French). Washington; Paris: National Geographic Society; Flammarion. p.:207. ISBN:978-2082010061. OCLC:53518922.
  • Kleinschmidt, Janice (August 2007). "Cabins of the Brotherhood: Author Peter Wild delves into the Spartan lives of Palm Springs' early desert rats". Palm Springs Life. Palm Springs, CA: Desert Publications. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  • Lawton, Harry (October 13, 1957). "Edmund C. Jaeger Fills Role of Nature's Sherlock Holmes". Press-Enterprise. Riverside, CA: Press-Enterprise Company. pp.:B: 4, 5.
  • Smith, Lloyd Mason (January 1951). "Trail of a Naturalist ." (PDF). Desert Magazine. 14 (3). Palm Desert, CA: Desert Press, Inc.: 16–19. OCLC:80921470. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2012-09-01.
  • Whitney, Harry L. (October 1948). "Edmund C. Jaeger, Denizen of the Desert". Palm Springs Villager. 3 (2). Palm Springs, CA: 15–16.
  • Wild, Peter (Summer 1999). "Edmund C. Jaeger: From the Cl*room to Palavers". Wildflower. 15 (3). Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada: North American Native Plant Society: 40–43.
  • Wild, Peter (August 2007). "The Letters of Carl Eytel: The early desert painter's correspondence with travel writer and teacher Edmund C. Jaeger". Palm Springs Life. Palm Springs, CA: Desert Publications. Retrieved November 13, 2011.

External links

  • Edmund Jaeger site
  • Riverside (California) Metropolitan Museum
    • Riverside Metropolitan Museum video on Jaeger Exhibit on YouTube
  • Edmund C Jaeger Nature Sanctuary USGS Desert Center Quad, California, Topographic Map at TopoZone
  • Beasley, Ruth (July 19, 2011). "Jaeger's Poorwill". Learning the Birds. High Plains Public Radio. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
  • Works by Edmund Jaeger at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)

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Edmund Jaeger