
The University of New Mexico
NEWS RELEASE
July 28, 2006
UNM Professor James Brown elected Honoraria Member of the American Society of Mammalogists
University of New Mexico professor James Brown can add yet another impressive honor to an already lengthy list of noteworthy accomplishments. Brown, a Distinguished Professor of Biology, was recently elected an Honoraria Member of the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM), the highest honor conferred by the Society in recognition of distinguished contributions to the science of mammalogy.
With nearly 3,100 members worldwide, the American Society of Mammalogists is the largest and oldest professional society dedicated to the study and conservation of mammals. Brown becomes only the 82nd person in its 88-year history to be recognized as an Honoraria Member.
A long-time member and contributor to the ASM, Brown served as society president from 1990-92. He also received ASM's C. Hart Merriam Award for Research in 1989. He has been widely recognized for his achievements, receiving numerous prestigious awards from other societies that culminated with his election to the National Academy of Sciences last year.
Brown has had an enormous impact in the field, beginning with his roots in physiological ecology, and also in evolutionary and community ecology, with his long-term studies in Portal, Ariz. that began in the late 1970s. These ongoing studies have focused on the interactions among weather, desert rodents, ants and plants, providing a new understanding of long-term dynamics in biotic communities. Brown is known as the ‘father of macroecology,' an approach that has resulted in a mechanistic hypothesis relating body size to energetics and resource use.
Additionally, Brown has spent considerable time as a mentor with 50 Ph.D. students and 23 post docs, many of whom have gone on to become significant contributors themselves. His former students note that he is “simply inspiring as a mentor, colleague and friend.”
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