Ian McTaggart-Cowan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1910-06-25)June 25, 1910 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Died | April 18, 2010(2010-04-18) (aged 99) Saanich, British Columbia, Canada |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | Nature documentaries |
| Spouse | Joyce Racey |
| Children | 2 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Distribution and variation in deer (GenusOdocoileus) of the Pacific coastal region of North America (1935) |
| Doctoral advisor | Joseph Grinnell |
| Doctoral students | |
| Other notable students | Charles Krebs |
Ian McTaggart-CowanOC OBC FRSC (June 25, 1910 – April 18, 2010) was a Scottish-Canadianzoologist,conservationist, andtelevision presenter. He has been called "the father of Canadian ecology".[1] He was the brother of meteorologistPatrick McTaggart-Cowan.
McTaggart-Cowan was born inEdinburgh, Scotland, and moved toNorth Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with his family when he was three years old.[2] He completed studies at theUniversity of British Columbia and then at theUniversity of California at Berkeley, where he studieddeer underJoseph Grinnell.
Upon returning to Canada, he took up a position at the provincial museum in British Columbia (later renamed theRoyal British Columbia Museum) for six years. He next took a professorship at theUniversity of British Columbia, where he established the first university wildlife program in Canada. McTaggart-Cowan was active in early studies ofBritish Columbia Provincial Parks andCanada's Rocky Mountain National Parks. More so than many other ecologists of the time, McTaggart-Cowan stressed the importance of studies of individual variation, in addition to population-based studies.[3]
McTaggart-Cowan supervised more than 100 graduate students; many became eminent scientists in academia and government.[2] According to his own recollection, at one point, the wildlife division of everyCanadian province that had one was being headed by one of McTaggart-Cowan's former students.[3] Among the more than 275 publications which he authored or coauthored[4] is the comprehensive, encyclopedic four-volumeBirds of British Columbia, to which he was a major contributor.[5]
McTaggart-Cowan had secret annual meetings with AmericanAldo Leopold and other conservation biologists to discuss educating the public aboutnature conservation.[6] He warned about the ecological dangers ofpesticides andclimate change long before they became well-known problems.[7] McTaggart-Cowan acted as an environmental advocate within the confines of the political system, by writing to government ministers.[7] He was influential in the field ofwildlife management, ending the previously widespread practice of awardingbounties for the killing of "undesirable" wildlife species in Canada.[2]
McTaggart-Cowan was the head of the University of British Columbia's Zoology Department from 1953 to 1964, whereupon he became the Dean of Graduate Studies.[4][8] After his retirement in 1975, McTaggart-Cowan served as the chancellor of theUniversity of Victoria from 1979 to 1984.[2]
He was an avid hunter and a respectedphilatelist.[7][9]
He was a pioneer ofscience television,[10] including hosting the seriesFur and Feather,The Living Sea, andWeb of Life. In total, he was the co-author of six teaching films on mammalian behaviour, 110 educational television programs, and more than 200 radio broadcasts.[4] He was the first to broadcastmicroscope images ofmicroorganisms on television.[7] He also reportedly started the broadcasting career ofDavid Suzuki by hiring him to follow in his footsteps.
TheCowan Vertebrate Museum inVancouver was named in his honour, as are a number of awards.[2] He was the recipient of multiple honorary degrees, including honoraryD.Sc. degrees from the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and theUniversity of Northern British Columbia, andLL.D. degrees from theUniversity of Alberta andSimon Fraser University.[4] At the time of his death in 2010, McTaggart-Cowan had received more awards than almost any other Canadian scientist.[4]
The Ian McTaggart-Cowan Archive, housed at the University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives, incorporates more than 7,000 handwritten pages from hisfield research.[1]
McTaggart-Cowan was married for more than 70 years to Joyce McTaggart-Cowan (née Racey), the daughter of his mentor Kenneth Racey. They had a son, Garry, and a daughter, Ann.[2]
McTaggart-Cowan's awards and honours included:[4]
