Joseph Conrad Chamberlin

Joseph Conrad Chamberlin (December 23, 1898 – July 17, 1962) was an American arachnologist who studied mainly pseudoscorpions. A native of Utah, he studied primarily at Stanford University while working most of his career in Oregon for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Chamberlin has had eleven species named in his honor.

Early life

Chamberlin was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to Ole Chamberlin and Mary Ethel (Conrad) Chamberlin.^[1] His parents were descended from early Mormon pioneer families, and he was their first child. Joseph's father died in 1911, leaving the remaining five person family near poverty. After one year of high school, he left school in 1914 to work in order to support the family.^[1] In October 1918, Joseph was drafted into the United States Army, but fell ill with the Spanish flu pandemic and never served in World War I.^[1]

After recovering, Chamberlin began college at the University of Utah when Congress allocated funding for veterans. Originally a one year program, Congress expanded it to cover four years of school and Chamberlin transferred to Stanford University upon the recommendation of his uncle, Ralph Vary Chamberlin.^[1] He was accepted as a special case, and studied entomology in the Zoology Department. His tutor at Stanford University was Gordon Floyd Ferris, an internationally reputed entomologist at the time. Chamberlin graduated in 1923 with a BA degree, and in 1924 with a masters degree.^[1]

Career

Chamberlin began teaching after college at San Jose State University before earning a PhD from Stanford in 1929.^[1] That year, he began working for the United States Department of Agriculture. His first assignment with the Department was in Idaho, where he worked until transferring to Modesto, California in 1935. In 1936, he moved to Oregon, where he worked at a field station in Corvallis.^[1] In 1939, Chamberlin transferred to the Forest Grove, Oregon station where he remained until 1961. He died in Hillsboro, Oregon.^[1]

Two genus-group names and eleven species have been named after him.^[2] He would describe several species while working with his uncle. Joseph married Clara Hya Gladstone in 1923 and they had 5 children. They divorced and he remarried Charlotte May in 1944, 6 years after his divorce.

References

Further reading

• A Tribute to Joseph C. Chamberlin The Journal of Arachnology 26(3): 409-459.