Charles Henry Gilbert: Difference between revisions

| birth_place = [[Rockford, Illinois]], US

| death_place = [[Palo Alto, California]], US

| doctoral_students = {{ublist|[[Joseph Grinnell]]|[[Carl Leavitt Hubbs]]|[[William Francis Thompson (biologist)|William Francis Thompson]]}}

Born in [[Rockford, Illinois]], Gilbert spent his early years in [[Indianapolis, Indiana]], where he came under the influence of his high school teacher, [[David Starr Jordan]] (1851‒1931). When Jordan became Professor of Natural History at [[Butler University]] in Indianapolis, Gilbert followed and received his B.A. degree in 1879. Jordan moved to [[Indiana University]], in [[Bloomington, Indiana|Bloomington]], in the fall of 1879, and Gilbert again followed, receiving his M.S. degree in 1882 and Ph.D. in 1883. His doctorate was the first such degree ever awarded by [[Indiana University]].<ref name="2-dunn1997" /><ref name="3-jordan1922" /><ref name="3-jordan1922" />

Jordan and Gilbert, along with other students forming the so-called "Jordan School of Ichthyology,", explored the streams and rivers of [[Indiana]] and the southeastern United States in the late 1870s, describing a number of new fishes. In 1879, Jordan was asked by [[Spencer Fullerton Baird]] (1823‒1887), Director of the U.S. Fish Commission, to undertake a survey of the fisheries of the [[Pacific Coast]] of the United States. Jordan took leave of absence from [[Indiana University]], chose Gilbert as his assistant, and headed west to [[San Francisco]] in December 1879. Their one-year pioneering survey of fishes of the West, from [[Southern California]] to [[Vancouver Island]], [[British Columbia]], laid the foundation for nearly 50 years of study of Pacific fishes and fisheries by the team of Jordan and Gilbert.<ref name="3-jordan1922" /><ref name="3-jordan1922" /><ref name="9-pietschdunn1997" />

By the time Gilbert received his doctoral degree at the age of 24, he was the author or co-author (mostly with Jordan) of over 80 scientific publications. Gilbert served at Indiana University from 1880‒1884, first as instructor, then as Assistant Professor in Natural Sciences and Modern Languages. In 1884, he accepted the Professorship of Natural History at the [[University of Cincinnati]], in [[Ohio]], remaining there until December 1888. In 1889, Gilbert returned to Indiana University as Professor of Natural History.<ref name="1-dunn1996a" /><ref name="2-dunn1997" /><ref name="3-jordan1922" /><ref name="3-jordan1922" />

Around 1909, Gilbert turned his attention to the study of [[Pacific salmon]] and soon became the foremost expert on these economically important fish. He studied salmon from California to Alaska, but concentrated his efforts in British Columbia (from about 1912‒1921) and in Alaska (from 1918‒1927). He was the first to correctly apply the scale method to aging of Pacific salmon, he pioneered racial studies of [[salmon]] using scales, and he was instrumental in establishing tagging programs on salmon in Alaska. He was the first to confirm the “home stream” theory to spawning salmon. Additionally, he was also one of the very first scientists to consider the [[population dynamics]] of northwest stocks of salmon.<ref name="2-dunn1997" /><ref name="8-jordan1928b" /><ref name="13-dunn1996d" />

Always formal and proper, Gilbert nevertheless was a demanding person with a sharp eye and an even sharper temper. He supervised the graduate studies of several ichthyologists and fishery biologists who became notable in their field, among them [[William Francis Thompson (biologist)|William Francis Thompson]] (1888‒1965) and [[Carl Leavitt Hubbs]] (1894‒1979).<ref name="1-dunn1996a" /><ref name="2-dunn1997" /><ref name="7-jordan1928a" /><ref name="8-jordan1928b" />

Gilbert died in 1928 at the age of 68, but he is remembered and honored by ichthyologists and fishery biologists around the world for his many contributions. The Gilbert Fisheries Society was established in 1931 at the [[College of Fisheries]], [[University of Washington]] (UW). The organization was short -lived, however, and the society was reconstituted in 1989 as the Gilbert Ichthyological Society. A U.S.[[United BureauStates ofFish Commercialand FisheriesWildlife Service]] fisheries [[research vessel]] wasin commissioned[[Ship incommissioning|commission]] from 1952 asto 1973 was named {{ship|US FWS|Charles H. Gilbert||6}}<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=whbLKkXXaKsC&dq=charles+h+gilbert+designed+for+fishery+research&pg=PA48 Manar, Thomas A., "Charles H. Gilbert and the ''Charles H. Gilbert''," ''Marine Fisheries Review'', National Marine Fisheries Service, Washington, D.C., Volume 36, Number 1, January 1974, p. 48 Accessed 28 August 2021]</ref> and a building at Stanford University is named the Charles H. Gilbert Biological Sciences Building.<ref name="2-dunn1997" />

Gilbert is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of lizards: ''[[Phyllodactylus|Phyllodactylus gilberti]]'', ''[[Plestiodon gilberti]]'', and ''[[Xantusia|Xantusia gilberti]]''.<ref name="14-beolens2011" />

<ref name="1-dunn1996a">{{cite journal |last=Dunn |first=J. Richard |year=1996 |title=Charles H. Gilbert, pioneer ichthyologist and fishery biologist |journal=Marine Fisheries Review |volume=58 |issue=1‒2 |pages=1‒2 |publisher=[[NOAA Fisheries]] |url=https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/content/charles-h-gilbert-pioneer-ichthyologist-and-fishery-biologist}}</ref>

<ref name="2-dunn1997">{{cite book |last=Dunn |first=J. Richard |year=1997 |chapter=Charles Henry Gilbert (1859‒1928): Pioneer ichthyologist of the American West |page=265‒278 |editor1-first=T. W. |editor1-last=Pietsch |editor2-first=W. D. Jr. |editor2-last=Anderson, Jr. |title=Collection Building in Ichthyology and Herpetology |publisher=[[American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists]] |series=Spec. Publ. 3. |location=Lawrence, Kansas |isbn=978-0-935868-91-73}}</ref>

<ref name="3-jordan1922">{{cite book |authorlinkauthor-link=David Starr Jordan |last=Jordan |first=David Starr |year=1922 |title=Days of a Man, Being Memories of a Naturalist, Teacher, and Minor Prophet of Democracy |publisher=World Book Company |location=Yonkers-on Hudson, New York, 2 vols., |pages=710, 906|isbn=978-0-217-38224-X3 |url=https://archive.org/stream/daysmanmemoirs02jordrich#page/812/mode/2up}}</ref>

<ref name="7-jordan1928a">{{cite journal |authorlinkauthor-link=David Starr Jordan |last=Jordan |first=David Starr |year=1928 |title=Charles Henry Gilbert |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=67 |issue=1748 |pages=644‒645 |urldoi=http:/10.1126/science.sciencemag67.org/content/67/1748/.644|pmid=17788175 |doibibcode=101928Sci...1126/science.67.1748.644644S }}</ref>

<ref name="8-jordan1928b">{{cite journal |authorlinkauthor-link=David Starr Jordan |last=Jordan |first=David Starr |title=Charles Henry Gilbert (1859‒1928) |journal=Stanford Illustrated Review |date=July 1928 |pages=510‒514 |url=https://exhibits.stanford.edu/stanford-pubs/catalog/xq164mr2986}}</ref>

<ref name="9-pietschdunn1997">{{cite book |last1=Pietsch |first1=T. W. |last2=Dunn |first2=J. Richard |year=1997 |chapter=Early collection building in Puget Sound and adjacent waters: The 1880 expedition of David Starr Jordan (1851‒1931) and Charles Henry Gilbert (1859‒1928) |page=279‒290 |editor1-first=T. W. |editor1-last=Pietsch |editor2-first=W. D. Jr. |editor2-last=Anderson, Jr. |title=Collection Building in Ichthyology and Herpetology |publisher=[[American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists]] |series=Spec. Publ. 3. |location=Lawrence, Kansas |isbn=978-0-935868-91-73}}</ref>

<ref name="10-brittan1997">{{cite book |last=Brittan |first=M. R. |year=1997 |chapter=The Stanford school of ichthyology: Eighty years (1891‒1970) from Jordan (1851‒1931) to Myers (1905‒1985) |page=233‒264 |editor1-first=T. W. |editor1-last=Pietsch |editor2-first=W. D. Jr. |editor2-last=Anderson, Jr. |title=Collection Building in Ichthyology and Herpetology |publisher=[[American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists]] |series=Spec. Publ. 3. |location=Lawrence, Kansas |isbn=978-0-935868-91-73}}</ref>

<ref name="11-dunn1996b">{{cite journal |last=Dunn |first=J. Richard |year=1996 |title=Charles Henry Gilbert (1859-1928), naturalist-in-charge, and Chauncy Thomas, Jr. (1850-1919), commanding: Conflict aboard the U.S. Fish Commission Steamer ''Albatross'' in 1902 |journal=Marine Fisheries Review |volume=58 |issue=1‒2 |pages=3‒16 |publisher=[[NOAA Fisheries]] |url=https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/content/charles-henry-gilbert-1859-1928-naturalist-charge-and-chauncey-thomas-jr-1850-1919}}</ref>

<ref name="12-dunn1996c">{{cite journal |last=Dunn |first=J. Richard |year=1996 |title=Charles Henry Gilbert (1859-1928), naturalist-in-charge: The 1906 North Pacific expedition of the steamer ''Albatross'' |journal=Marine Fisheries Review |volume=58 |issue=1‒2 |pages=17‒28 |publisher=[[NOAA Fisheries]] |url=https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/content/charles-henry-gilbert-1859-1928-naturalist-charge-1906-north-pacific-expedition-steamer}}</ref>

<ref name="13-dunn1996d">{{cite journal |last=Dunn |first=J. Richard |year=1996 |title=Charles Henry Gilbert (1859‒1928): An early fishery biologist and his contributions to knowledge of Pacific salmon (''Oncorhynchus'' spp.)|journal=Reviews in Fisheries Science |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=133‒184 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10641269609388583 |doi=10.1080/10641269609388583 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]}}</ref>

<ref name="14-beolens2011">{{cite dictionarybook |editor1-lastauthor=Beolens, Bo |editor1author-firstlink=species:Bo Beolens |editor2-lastauthor2=Watkins, |editor2-first=Michael |editor3-lastauthor3=Grayson |editor3-first=Michael |year=2011 |dictionarytitle=The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles |location=Baltimore |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |isbn=978-1-4214-0135-5 |title=Gilbert, C. |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ovZoFyLhzkC&q&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100#v=onepage&q&f=false |via=[[Google Books]]}} xiii + 296 pp. (C. Gilbert, p. 100).</ref>

== External links ==

[[Category:19th-century American ichthyologistszoologists]]