Edmund Jaeger

Edmund Carroll Jaeger, D.Sc.,^[1] (January 28, 1887 – August 2, 1983) was an American biologist known for his works on desert ecology. He was born in Loup City, Nebraska to Katherine (nèe Gunther) and John Philip Jaeger,^{[2]:V.I,p.159} and moved to Riverside, California in 1906 with his family.^[3] He was the first to document, in The Condor,^[4] a state of extended torpor, approaching hibernation, in a bird, the Common Poorwill.^[5] He also described this in the National Geographic Magazine^[6]

Life

Jaeger first attended the newly relocated Occidental College in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles (in 1914), but moved to Palm Springs in 1915, where he taught at the one-room schoolhouse. At Palm Springs he met artist Carl Eytel,^[7] and authors J. Smeaton Chase^[7] and Charles Francis Saunders.^[8][7] These men formed what University of Arizona Professor Peter Wild^[9] called a "Creative Brotherhood"^[2] that lived in Palm Springs in the early 20th century. Other Brotherhood members included cartoonist and painter Jimmy Swinnerton,^[7] author George Wharton James,^[7] and photographers Fred Clatsworthy^[10][7] and Stephen H. Willard.^[7] The men lived near each other (like Jaeger, Eytel built his own cabin),^[11] traveled together throughout the Southwest, helped with each others' works, and exchanged photographs which appeared in their various books.^[2] He then returned to Occidental to complete his degree in 1918 and started teaching at Riverside Junior College. Retiring from teaching after 30 years, he worked the Riverside Municipal Museum^[12] in Riverside, California. During all these years Jaeger used his Palm Springs cabin for his research trips across the desert.

Works

Books

(Listed in order of first publication.)

• The Mountain Trees of Southern California: a Simple Guide-book for Tree Lovers (first as 1919 and 1920 ed.). Nabu Press. 2010. pp. 132. ISBN 978-1177055239. 
• Denizens of the Desert: A Book of Southwestern Mammals, Birds, and Reptiles. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.. 1922. pp. 299. OCLC 1459267. 
• Denizens of the Mountains. Charles C. Thomas. 1929. pp. 168. ASIN B00085C1KE. 
• A Dictionary of Greek and Latin Combining Forms used in Zoological Names (revised and enlarged from 1930 ed.). Charles C. Thomas. 1931. ASIN B002AQF1BU. 
• The California Deserts: A Visitor's Handbook (also 1933, 1938, 1955 ed.). Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. 1965. pp. 220. ISBN 978-0804712231.  (Betty S. Stillman and Malcom J. Rogers contributed chapters)
• Desert Wild Flowers. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. 1940 (copyright renewed 1978). ISBN 978-0804703659. 
• A Source-Book of Biological Names and Terms. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 1944 (3rd edition, 6th printing 1978). pp. 220. ISBN 978-0398061791. 
• Our Desert Neighbors. Stanford University Press. 1950. pp. 329. ASIN B0006ASPF6. ISBN 978-1121357754. 
• A Source-Book of Medical Terms. Charles C. Thomas. 1953. ASIN B000L3JHR8.  (Irvine H. Page was a co-author)
• The Desert in Pictures. Palm Springs, California: Palm Springs Museum. 1955. pp. 42.  (editor)
• A Naturalist's Death Valley (first in 1957 ed.). Death Valley '49ers, Inc.. 1979 (5th edition). pp. 70. ASIN B0007FK6VQ. 
• The North American Deserts. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. 1957. pp. 320. ISBN 978-0804704984.  (Peveril Meigs contributed a chapter)
• The Biologist's Handbook of Pronunciations (first in 1960 ed.). Nabu Press. 2011. pp. 340. ISBN 978-1175764539. 
• Desert Wildlife (revised and enlarged of 1950 Our Desert Neighbors ed.). Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. 1961. pp. 320. ISBN 978-0804701242. 
• Introduction to the Natural History of Southern California (first as 1966 ed.). University of California Press. 1977. pp. 104. ISBN 978-0520032453.  (Arthur Clayton Smith was a co-author)

Articles

Jaeger contributed to over 25 magazines and journals^[1]:443-454 including:

Archive of Jaeger's work

Much of Jaeger's original work is archived at the University of California, Riverside, Library Special Collections.^[13]

Honors

• The "Edmund C. Jaeger Desert Institute" on the Moreno Valley College (MVC) of the Riverside Community College District is named in his honor.^[14] MCV also offers an "Edmund C. Jaeger Endowed Scholarship".^[15]

• In 1986 The Nature Conservancy completed development^[16] of the "Edmund C. Jaeger Nature Sanctuary" in the Chuckwalla Mountains near Desert Center, California.^[17][18] It was in the Chuckwalla Mountains that Jaeger discovered the poorwill, and after his death in 1983, his cremated remains were scattered in the same canyon.^[19]
• The University of La Verne of La Verne, California, maintains a small museum dedicated to Jaeger.^[20]
• Pacific Union College of Angwin, California, annually presents an "Edmund C. Jaeger Award" in biology^[21] and "Dr. Edmund C. Jaeger Scholarship Grant" in education^[22] to deserving students.
• Designated as a Fellow of the California Native Plant Society in 1976.^[23]
• Received the Auld Lang Syne Award from Occidental College in 1982.^[24]

Patronyms

Some 28 patronyms of Jaeger have been made,^[1]:234-238 including:

Further reading

• Eytel, Carl; Jaeger, Edmund C. (1905). Sketchbook 1904-1905. OCLC 32945154. 
• Kleinschmidt, Janice (August 2007). "Cabins of the Brotherhood: Author Peter Wild delves into the Spartan lives of Palm Springs' early desert rats". Palm Springs Life (Palm Springs: Desert Publications). http://www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/August-2007/Cabins-of-the-Brotherhood/index.php?previewmode=on. Retrieved November 15, 2011. 
• Lawton, Harry (October 13, 1957). "Edmund C. Jaeger Fills Role of Nature's Sherlock Holmes". Press-Enterprise (Riverside, California: Press-Enterprise Company): pp. B: 4, 5. 
• Smith, Lloyd Mason (January 1951). "Trail of a Naturalist ..". Desert Magazine (Palm Desert, California: Desert Press, Inc.) 14 (3): 16–19. 
• Whitney, Harry L. (October 1948). "Edmund C. Jaeger, Denizen of the Desert". Palm Springs Villager (Palm Springs, California) 3 (2): 15-16. 
• Wild, Peter (Summer 1999). "Edmund C. Jaeger: From the Classroom to Palavers". Wildflower (Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada: North American Native Plant Society) 15 (3): 40-43. 
• Wild, Peter (August 2007). "The Letters of Carl Eytel: The early desert painter's correspondence with travel writer and teacher Edmund C. Jaeger". Palm Springs Life (Palm Springs: Desert Publications). http://www.palmspringslife.com/Palm-Springs-Life/August-2007/The-Letters-of-Carl-Eytel/. Retrieved November 13, 2011. 

References

External links

• Edmund Jaeger site
• Riverside (California) Metropolitan Museum
  • Riverside Metropolitan Museum YouTube video on Jaeger Exhibit
• Topozone: Edmund C Jaeger Nature Sanctuary USGS DESERT CENTER Quad, California, Topographic Map
• Beasley, Ruth (July 19, 2011). "Jaeger's Poorwill". Learning the Birds. High Plains Public Radio. http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/hppr/local-hppr-977282.mp3. Retrieved December 13, 2011. 
• Edmund Jaeger at Find a Grave