lawrence
c. bliss, president
1982-1983
The new president of the Ecological So
of
is Professor
ciety, Lawrence C. Bliss,
Ecology and Chairman of the Botany De
partment at the University of Washington,
Seattle. He was born inCleveland, Ohio in
1929. He received his B.S. and M.S. de
grees inBotany (with minors inGeography
and Geology) at Kent State University. His
M.S. thesis combined his interests in vege
the vege
tation and soils and concerned
in
of beech woods
tational relationships
Ohio. He obtained his Ph.D. in Botany at
in 1956. While at Duke,
Duke University
Bliss' interests in ecology matured under
the direction of W. D. Billings, his major
then the se
and H. J. Oosting,
professor,
and Chairman of the
nior plant ecologist
at Duke. Bliss' Ph.D.
Botany Department
in microen
thesis on plant development
vironments of arctic and alpine tundra was
the first study of such wide scope and de
gree of detail, and has served as the basis
for much of his extensive work on the ecol
in North Ameri
ogy of tundra ecosystems
ca. After teaching at Bowling Green Uni
versity in Ohio in 1956-1957, he moved to
the University of Illinois where he served
of
as Assistant, Associate,
and Professor
In 1968 he went to the University
Botany.
of Alberta as Professor of Botany and Di
controlled
rector of the newly constructed
environment
facility. He assumed his pres
ent position at the University of Washing
ton in 1978.
tremendous
Bliss has made
Professor
to tundra ecology, especially
contributions
in the high arctic. His research has been
unusually broad and ranges from detailed
to
ecology of major species
physiological
ecosystem
ecology (especially the analysis
of primary productivity),
always with a
of the above- and
careful consideration
He directed
environments.
belowground
the Devon Island Project of the Canadian
in the
International Biological
Program
high arctic from 1970-1977. The results of
in
this major undertaking were published
in
several journal articles and summarized
A Comparative Anal
Tundra Ecosystems:
ysis, which he edited, published by Cam
in 1981. Bliss di
bridge University Press
other major
research
several
rected
re
such as applied ecological
projects
search in the Mackenzie Delta Region and
the Oil Sands Research Project. A member
of the United States National Committee
on IBP and Chairman
of the Terrestrial
from 1966
Subcommittee
Productivity
in developing
instrumental
1968, he was
that program. He has also served on sev
in the United
eral other national committees
States and Canada,
including the National
Research Council Biology Grants Commit
Board of
Protection
tee, Environmental
of
Canada Arctic Gas Study, Museums
In addition to work in
Canada Committee.
have
the tundra, Bliss and his students
and for
in temperate grasslands
worked
inwestern
ests, and inmontane vegetation
North America.
Bliss' research on the impact of oil and
iswidely
gas exploration and development
He has been an active con
recognized.
sultant for more than a half-dozen oil com
includ
agencies,
panies and government
of
Institute
ing the Oc?anographie
Research
and the National
Washington
221
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Council
Committee
Minerals
Management
on Onshore
Energy
Research.
international ex
As part of an extensive
perience, Bliss worked in the tundra of New
Zealand on a Fulbright Research
Fellow
close contacts with
ship, and maintains
in tundra ecology, es
foreign researchers
pecially
in the
U.S.S.R.,
Scandinavia,
and
more
of
recently, the People's
Republic
China. He has travelled widely and is quite
envi
familiar with different vegetations,
ronments,
and
cussion
cultures.
The author or editor of several books on
tundra ecology, he has also published
two
in Annual Review of Ecol
major articles
"Arctic and Alpine
ogy and Systematics:
Life Cycles"
(1971), and "Arctic Tundra
Ecosystems"
(1973). Over 100 journal ar
ticles, including more than 30 in the So
the breadth
ciety's journals, demonstrate
of Bliss' publications;
he has also served
on the editorial boards of Oecologia
and
Arctic and Alpine Research.
Bliss has been genuinely concerned with
environmental
issues. Besides
doing ex
tensive research on the impact of gas and
in the tundra, he has written
oil exploration
articles and involved himself in public dis
gence
a
about
concerns.
of
variety
environmental
before
long
"environmental
Since
of
he was
strong,
the
and
and
agement
advocate
of natural
preservation
of
emer
to be a visible,
continues
tireless
the
movement,"
of wise
resources
man
and
the
nature.
An active participant
in the activities and
of the Ecological
for
governance
Society
many years, Professor Bliss has served as
local Chairman, member
of the editorial
board of Ecological
Mem
Monographs,
ber-at-Large,
Treasurer,
and
Vice-Presi
dent. His other professional
contributions
include service on the Executive Commit
tee of the American
Institute of Biological
and as a Fellow of the Arctic In
Sciences,
stitute of North America and the American
for the Advancement
Association
of Sci
ence.
Larry Bliss
a
researcher
is eminently
and
an
qualified
both as
to be
administrator
at
the helm of the Ecological Society. He has
the experience,
the wisdom,
the vision, the
prestige, and the concern for man and his
to guide our Society ably and
environment
in the coming year.
represent ecology
F. A.
Bazzaz
Source: Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, Vol. 63, No. 3, Directory Issue (Sept, 1982). Courtesy of JSTOR
222
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