Nebraska Authors

Frederic Clements, born in Lincoln, Nebraska, gained fame as a botanist and as one of the founders of the science of ecology. He was a leading figure in Charles E. Bessey's Botanical Seminar, "Sem. Bot.," which functioned independently from the University of Nebraska's Botany Department. Clements was a close friend and associate of both Bessey and of Roscoe Pound, while Pound continued to pursue botanical interests. The importance of the circle is described in Ronald C. Tobey, Saving the Prairies: The Life Cycle of the Founding School of American Plant Ecology, 1895-1955, 1981. Bessey, Clements, Pound, John Weaver and their followers transformed ecology from a metaphor into a science. Clements gained special renown for his work on ecological methodologies and for suggesting a paradigm of the succession of plant communities that, though later overturned, was a model for thinking about larger questions in the scientific study of ecology. He lived in Lincoln until about 1907. Clements was married to Edith Schwartz Clements, also a Nebraska author and famous botanist in her own right.

Melvin Gilmore, a founder of the field of ethnobotany, was Clement's student at the University of Nebraska.

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Knoll's parents graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1910. He served in the Army (in Japan) after earning his undergraduate degree and before attending the University of Minnesota's doctorate program. He came to the University of Nebraska in 1950. In 1969, Knoll started UNL's unconventional Centennial College program which lasted about a decade. He retired from the University of Nebraska in 1990.

Famed as a teacher and mentor, his book on Weldon Kees, Weldon Kees and the Midcentury Generation: Letters, 1935-1955, has been credited with remaking Kees's reputation as a poet and artist. He was a pioneer in understanding the work of Nebraska writer Wright Morris. Knoll's support for Bernice Slote and Sue Rosowski, and his work with the organizations of Cather and Sandoz, was important in revivals of interest in Willa Cather and Mari Sandoz.

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Paul Austin Johnsgard is a Nebraska scientist, ornithologist, artist and professor emeritus at UNL. As he closed in on the publication of 75 books with his survey of the Yellowstone ecosystem (in 2012), he was already the most most published ornithologist of all time, the most published author in the history of the University of Nebraska, and the most prolific of all Nebraska authors, of fiction or non-fiction.

Johnsgard is one of Nebraska's most famous scholars. He is a world authority on waterfowl behavior and on several other bird groups such as grouse and cranes. His Handbook of Waterfowl Behavior (Cornell University Press, 1965) is considered the classic reference work on the subject. His book Grouse and Quails of North America received a Wildlife Society honor and Waterfowl: Their Biology and Natural History received honorable mention from the Wildlife Society and many other awards. His publications in professional scientific journals exceed 150.

Johnsgard is also famous for his world surveys of the major bird groups, which, appearing regularly over some 40 years, have finally made him the most prolific of all ornithological writers. He has written books on regional natural history, on the Platte River, on Teton and Yellowstone wildlife, and classic natural histories of special interest to Nebraska readers, among them: This Fragile Land: A Natural History of the Nebraska Sandhills, 1995, The Nature of Nebraska: Ecology and Biodiversity, 2001, The Niobrara: A River Running Through Time, 2007, and a collection of essays, Seasons of a Tallgrass Prairie: A Nebraska Year, 2014.

He has written several books in the genre of literary appreciation of aspects of nature, including books on the Sandhill crane and the snow goose. One of these, Song of the North Wind, was translated into Russian and Latvian. With his daughter Karin, Johnsgard wrote a whimsical book on dragons and unicorns. Many of his books are illustrated with his own sketches and artwork.

Johnsgard has been awarded four national conservation awards in recognition of his ornithological writing and conservation work and has been an Ames Reader in the Heritage Room in 1996, 2004, and 2007. Videos of readings are available.

See:
Gillian Klucas, "A Beautiful Mind," Nebraska Magazine Summer 2002, Vol. 98, No. 2.
James L. Hayward, "Beguiled by Birds," Living Bird Autumn 1994 Vol. 13 No. 4.

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