Dickson D. Despommier
Despommier in 2014
Born	Dickson Donald Despommier (1940-06-05)June 5, 1940 New Orleans,Louisiana, U.S.
Died	February 7, 2025(2025-02-07) (aged 84) New York City, New York, U.S.
Citizenship	American
Alma mater	Fairleigh Dickinson University (BS), Biology Columbia University (MS), Medical Parasitology University of Notre Dame (PhD), Microbiology
Known for	Vertical Farming Medical Ecology of West Nile Virus Urban Sustainable Agricultural Initiatives Emerging Infectious Disease Ecology The Trichinella Page Medical Ecology The Vertical Farm This Week in Virology
Awards	American Medical Student Association National Teaching Award 2003
Scientific career
Fields	Parasitology Ecology
Institutions	Columbia University Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Thesis	The in vivo and in vitro analysis of acquired resistance to Trichinella spiralis infections in mice. (1967)

Dickson Donald Despommier (June 5, 1940 – February 7, 2025) was an American academic, microbiologist and ecologist who was a professor ofmicrobiology andPublic Health atColumbia University.^[1][2] From 1971 to 2009, he conducted research on intracellularparasitism and taught courses onparasitic diseases, medical ecology and ecology. Despommier received media coverage for his ideas onvertical farming.^[3][4]

Despommier was born on June 5, 1940, in New Orleans. His father was a shipping line accountant. When he was a child, his parents divorced.^[1]

In 1962, Despommier received a BS in biology fromFairleigh Dickinson University. In 1964, he received an MS in medical parasitology fromColumbia University. In 1967, he received a PhD in microbiology from theUniversity of Notre Dame.^[1]

Despommier had research interests in theecotone as a zone of high disease transmission; the spread ofschistosomiasis,malaria, andhelminths (ascaris,hookworm,trichuris) in agricultural areas; and the ecology ofWest Nile virus with a focus on related weather patterns.^[2][5]

Despommier was especially known for his research onTrichinella spiralis, which led to numerous advances in understanding of the "muscle stage" of the organism, and how it maintains itself in the host for long periods of time in the Nurse cell/parasite complex (weeks to years in some cases).^{[citation needed]}

He developed his concept of vertical farming over a 10-year period with graduate students in a medical ecology class beginning in 1999, with work continued by designer Chris Jacobs andOntarian eco-architect Gordon Graff^[6][7] from theUniversity of Waterloo'sSchool of Architecture.

In June 2008, Despommier appeared onThe Colbert Report, where he described the concept of vertical farming toStephen Colbert.^[8][9]

He was a regular panel-member of the podcastThis Week in Virology,^[10] produced by his colleagueVincent Racaniello.

This Week in Parasitism (TWiP) is a podcast about eukaryotic parasites started by Vincent Racaniello and Dickson Despommier. Daniel Griffin, MD joined the team in January 2015, followed by Christina Naula.^[11]

Despommier died on February 7, 2025, at the age of 84.^[1]

Despommier authored or co-authored 10 books:

• Despommier, Dickson D. (1967).The in Vivo in Vitro Analysis of Acquired Resistance to Trichinella Spiralis Infections in Mice. University of Notre Dame, April.
• Despommier, Dickson D. (2001).West Nile Story. Apple Trees Productions.ISBN 978-0-9700027-1-6.
• Despommier, Dickson (2010).The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century. St. Martin's Press.ISBN 978-0-312-61139-2.^[12]
• Despommier, Dickson D.; Karapelou, John W. (1987).Parasite Life Cycles. Springer Science & Business Media.ISBN 0-387-96486-X.
• Katz, M.; Despommier, Dickson D.; Gwadz, Robert (1989).Parasitic Diseases 2nd ed. Springer Science & Business Media.ISBN 978-1-4684-0470-8.
• Despommier, Dickson D.; Hotez, Peter; Gwadz, Robert (1994).Parasitic Diseases, 3rd ed. Springer Sciences & Business Media.ISBN 0-387-94223-8.
• Despommier, Dickson D.; Gwadz, Robert; Hotez, Peter; Knirsch, Charles (2000).Parasitic Diseases 4th ed. Apple Trees Productions, LLC.ISBN 097000270X.
• Despommier, Dickson D.; Gwadz, Robert; Hotez, Peter; Knirsch, Charles (2006).Parasitic Diseases 5th ed. Apple Trees Productions, LLC.ISBN 0-9700027-7-7.
• Despommier, Dickson D.; Griffin, Daniel; Gwadz, Robert; Hotez, Peter; Knirsch, Charles (2017).Parasitic Diseases (6th ed.).ISBN 978-0-9978400-0-1.
• Despommier, Dickson D. (2013).People, Parasites, and Plowshares: Learning From Our Body's Most Terrifying Invaders. Columbia University Press.ISBN 978-0-231-53526-7.
• Despommier, Dickson D. (2023).The New City: How to Build Our Sustainable Urban Future. Columbia University Press.ISBN 978-0-231-20550-4.

Chapters by Despommier:

• Despommier, D. (2020).Vertical farming systems for urban agriculture. In: Wiskerke, J. S. C.Achieving sustainable urban agriculture. Cambridge: Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing.ISBN 978-1-78676-316-7

Wikimedia Commons has media related toDickson Despommier.

• Columbia University Biography
• "The vertical farm: Dickson Despommier at TedxMiddlebury".YouTube. Tedx Talks. December 12, 2013.Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
• "Dickson Despommier - Vertical Farming".YouTube. Ideacity. April 6, 2018.Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.

• 1940 births
• 2025 deaths
• American microbiologists
• American ecologists
• American parasitologists
• Columbia University faculty
• Columbia University alumni
• University of Notre Dame alumni
• Scientists from New Orleans
• 20th-century American biologists
• 21st-century American biologists
• Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from May 2020
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from February 2025
• Commons category link from Wikidata