Please Join Diana Steele, Case Western Reserve University, for a presentation, "Lynds Jones: Birdman of Oberlin."
Lynds Jones (1865-1951) was a pioneering ornithologist and ecologist in Oberlin who is responsible for many of the common practices that recreational birders take for granted as “standard practice” in the field, more than a century later, including keeping lists, doing Big Days, and the Christmas Bird Count.
At Oberlin College in 1892, Jones began teaching ornithology, which was the first course of its kind ever offered at an American college or university. Not only was he a professor at Oberlin for nearly four decades, Jones also had a tremendous impact on the fields of ornithology, ecology and recreational birding. He founded both an ornithological society (The Wilson Ornithological Society, 1888) and a journal (now the Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 1889); both are active today.
Jones was also an early pioneer and mentor in ecology and founded the first-ever department of animal ecology in 1915. His son George was a legendary Oberlin botany professor and ecologist who lived in Oberlin for more than a century until his death in 1998.
Open to all members of the public
