Edmund Jaeger

Edmund Jaeger documented a state of near-hibernation in the common poorwill.

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 (née Gunther) and John Philip Jaeger,^{[3]:V.I,p.159} and moved to Riverside, California in 1906 with his family.^[4] He was the first to document, in The Condor,^[5] a state of extended torpor, approaching hibernation, in a bird, the common poorwill.^[6] He also described this in the National Geographic Magazine.^[7]

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,^[8]:168–71 and authors J. Smeaton Chase^[8] and Charles Francis Saunders.^[8][9] These men formed what University of Arizona Professor Peter Wild called a "Creative Brotherhood"^[3] that lived in Palm Springs in the early 20th century. Other Brotherhood members included cartoonist and painter Jimmy Swinnerton,^[8] author George Wharton James,^[8] and photographers Fred Clatsworthy^[8][10] and Stephen H. Willard.^[8] The men lived near each other (like Jaeger, Eytel built his own cabin),^[11] traveled together throughout the Southwest, helped with each other's works, and exchanged photographs which appeared in their various books.^[3] 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. During all these years Jaeger used his Palm Springs cabin for his research trips across the desert. Throughout his career he wrote many popular nature books and became known as the "dean of the California deserts".^[13][14]

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. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-177-05523-9. OCLC 8666171. Carl Eytel...furnished the sketches of the mountain animals. 
• Denizens of the Desert: A Book of Southwestern Mammals, Birds, and Reptiles. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1922. p. 299. OCLC 1459267. 
• A Preliminary Report on the Flora of the Charleston Mountains of Nevada. Occasional papers of Riverside Junior College., v. 1, no. 1. Riverside, CA: The Junior College. 1927. p. 15. OCLC 5663721. 
• Birds of the Charleston Mountains of Nevada. Occasional papers of Riverside Junior College., v. 2, no. 1. Riverside, CA: The Junior College. 1927. p. 8. OCLC 16016140. 
• Denizens of the Mountains. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 1929. p. 168. ASIN B00085C1KE. OCLC 716567. 
• A Dictionary of Greek and Latin Combining Forms used in Zoological Names (revised and enlarged from 1930 ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 1931. ASIN B002AQF1BU. OCLC 10567568. 
• The California Deserts: A Visitor's Handbook (also 1933, 1938, 1955 ed.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1965. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-8047-1223-1. OCLC 716807042.  (Samuel Stillman Berry and Malcom Jennings Rogers contributed chapters)
• Desert Wild Flowers. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1978 [1940]. ISBN 978-0-8047-0365-9. OCLC 631689191. 
• A Source-book of Biological Names and Terms (3rd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 1978 [1944]. p. 323. ISBN 978-0-398-06179-1. OCLC 1524400.  (illustrations by Merle Gish and the author)^[15]
• Our Desert Neighbors. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1950. p. 329. ASIN B0006ASPF6. ISBN 978-1-121-35775-4. OCLC 1436846. 
• A Source-book of Medical Terms. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. 1953. ASIN B000L3JHR8. OCLC 14670855.  (Irvine H. Page was a co-author)
• The Desert in Pictures. Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs Museum. 1955. p. 42. OCLC 9932064.  (editor)
• A Naturalist's Death Valley (5th ed.). Palm Desert, CA: Death Valley '49ers, Inc. 1979 [1957]. p. 70. ASIN B0007FK6VQ. OCLC 6573909. 
• The North American Deserts. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1957. p. 320. ISBN 978-0-8047-0498-4. OCLC 630598569.  (Peveril Meigs contributed a chapter; illustrations by John D. Briggs, Lloyd Mason Smith, Morris Van Dame, and Jaeger )
• The Biologist's Handbook of Pronunciations (first in 1960 ed.). Charleston, SC: Nabu Press. 2011. p. 340. ISBN 978-1-175-76453-9. OCLC 310096649.  (illustrations by Morris Van Dame and Jaeger)
• Desert Wildlife (revised and enlarged of 1950 Our Desert Neighbors ed.). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 1961. p. 320. ISBN 978-0-8047-0124-2. OCLC 637075718. 
• Introduction to the Natural History of Southern California (first as 1966 ed.). University of California Press. 1977. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-520-03245-3. OCLC 22526487.  (Arthur Clayton Smith was a co-author; illustrations by Gene M. Christman)

Articles

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

History of Palm Springs

Archives of Jaeger's work

• Much of Jaeger's original work is archived at the University of California, Riverside, Library Special Collections.^[16]
• Also see: Manuscripts and correspondence, OCLC 44935014  (Summary: biographical material, list of publications, newspapers articles and correspondence of Edmund C. Jaeger, Head of the Zoology Dept. at Riverside City College. 358 items in one box)

Honors

• The "Edmund C. Jaeger Desert Institute" on the Moreno Valley College (MVC) of the Riverside Community College District is named in his honor.^[17] MCV also offers an "Edmund C. Jaeger Endowed Scholarship".^[18]
• In 1986 The Nature Conservancy completed development^[19] of the "Edmund C. Jaeger Nature Sanctuary" in the Chuckwalla Mountains near Desert Center, California.^[20] 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.^[21]
• The University of La Verne of La Verne, California, maintains a small museum dedicated to Jaeger.^[22]
• Pacific Union College of Angwin, California, annually presents an "Edmund C. Jaeger Award" in biology^[23] and "Dr. Edmund C. Jaeger Scholarship Grant" in education^[24] to deserving students.
• Designated as a Fellow of the California Native Plant Society in 1976.^[25]
• Received the Auld Lang Syne Award from Occidental College in 1982.^[26]

Patronyms

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

• Patronyms
• 
  Ivesia jaergi (Jaeger's mousetail or Jaeger's ivesia)
• 
  Caulostramina jaegeri (cliffdweller)
• 
  Astragalus jaegerianus (Lane Mountain milkvetch)
• 
  Penstemon thomsoniae subspecies jaegeri (Jaeger's beardtongue)
• 
  Draba jaegeri (variety of whitlow-grass in seed)

References

Further reading

• Bryant, James; Moses, Vince (February 1999). "Edmund Carroll Jaeger – Examining the Early Career of one of Southern California's Premier Naturalists" (PDF). Journal of the Riverside Historical Society. Riverside, CA: The Riverside Historical Society (3): 26–32. OCLC 46665568. 
• Eytel, Carl; Jaeger, Edmund C. (1905). Sketchbook 1904–1905. OCLC 32945154. 
• Findley, Rowe (1972). Great American Deserts. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-87044-107-3. OCLC 516381.  (Photography by Walter Meayers Edwards; forward by Jaeger)
  • Findley, Rowe (1977). Les grands déserts américains (in French). Washington; Paris: National Geographic Society; Flammarion. p. 207. ISBN 978-2-08-201006-1. OCLC 53518922. 
• 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, CA: Desert Publications. Retrieved November 15, 2011. 
• Lawton, Harry (October 13, 1957). "Edmund C. Jaeger Fills Role of Nature's Sherlock Holmes". Press-Enterprise. Riverside, CA: Press-Enterprise Company. pp. B: 4, 5. 
• Smith, Lloyd Mason (January 1951). "Trail of a Naturalist .." (PDF). Desert Magazine. Palm Desert, CA: Desert Press, Inc. 14 (3): 16–19. OCLC 80921470. 
• Whitney, Harry L. (October 1948). "Edmund C. Jaeger, Denizen of the Desert". Palm Springs Villager. Palm Springs, CA. 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, CA: Desert Publications. Retrieved November 13, 2011. 

External links

• Edmund Jaeger site
• Riverside (California) Metropolitan Museum
  • Riverside Metropolitan Museum video on Jaeger Exhibit on YouTube
• Edmund C Jaeger Nature Sanctuary USGS Desert Center Quad, California, Topographic Map at TopoZone
• Beasley, Ruth (July 19, 2011). "Jaeger's Poorwill". Learning the Birds. High Plains Public Radio. Retrieved December 13, 2011. 
• Dr Edmund Carroll Jaeger at Find a Grave

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