Dr. Woodwell is interviewed at Lafayette by Ben Cohen and Kira Lawrence
Biography
George M. Woodwell is currently the Director Emeritus and a Senior Scientist at the Wood’s Hole Research Center in Wood’s Hole, Massachusetts. He founded the WHRC in 1985 and served as Director from then until 2005. Dr. Woodwell received an AB from Dartmouth College in 1950, an AM from Duke University in 1956, and a PhD from Duke in 1958. He has worked as an Ecology professor at the University of Maine in Orono, and became a staff member at the Biology Department of Brookhaven National Laboratory. He has also served as an adjunct lecturer at Yale University for many years. He is one of the founders of the prominent international conservation organizations Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Research
Dr. Woodwell has published extensively (upwards of 300 publications) over the course of his distinguished career, including many peer-reviewed articles and multiple books. His work has focused on the structural and functional properties of ecosystems , particularly in North America, and their role in the biosphere. He has also studied the effects of ionizing radiation, pesticides, and other toxins on ecosystems. Dr. Woodwell was also an early investigator into the biotic effects of climate change.
Relevant Publications
Woodwell, 1989. On Causes of Biotic Impoverishment. Ecology 70(1):14-15.
Woodwell, 2009. The Nature of a House: Building a World that Works. Island Press, Washington, D.C.
Woodwell and Martin, 1964. Persistence of DDT in Soils of Heavily Sprayed Forest Stands. Science 145(3631):481-3.
Woodwell, MacDonald, Revelle, and Keeling, 1979. The Carbon Dioxide Problem:
Implications for Policy in the Management of Energy and Other Resources. A Report to the Council on Environmental Quality.
Woodwell and Pecan (eds.), 1973. Carbon and the Biosphere. U.S.A.E.C., Technical Information Center, Springfield, Virginia, 392 pp.
Woodwell, Whittaker, Reiners, Likens, Delwiche, and Botkin, 1978. The Biota and the World Carbon Budget. Science 199, 141–146.
Links