Barbara Elaine Russell Brown
Barbara Elaine Ruth Brown | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 14 February 1929 Chicago |
| Died | 7 January 2019 |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin |
| Occupation(s) | Zoologist; ornithologist |
| Employer | Field Museum of Natural History |
Barbara Elaine Ruth Brown (February 14, 1929 - January 7, 2019) was an American biologist and philanthropist.
Early Life
Brown was born Barbara Russell, on 14 February 1929 in Chicago; her parents were Jewish immigrants from Romania and Russia.[1] She studied graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a bachelor's degree in Economics.[1][2] In 1953, she married Roger Brown; they went on to have six children together.[1]
Career
For 47 years, she worked at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. Her career began as an assistant to the zoologist Philip Hershkovitz.[2] Her field research included expeditions to the Cerrado savanna and to the Atlantic coastal forest of Brazil.[2] She was a skilled animal collector, with expertise in preparing specimens and setting traps.[2]
Eponyms
Brown has had 4 new species named after her.[3][1] These include:
- Isothrix barbarabrownae - Barbara Brown’s Brush-tailed Rat[4][5]
- Callicebus barbarabrownae - Barbara Brown's titi[5]
- Apomys brownorum - Mount Tapulao forest mouse[2]
- Vadaravis brownae - a Threskiornithidae-like fossil bird[2]
Philanthropy
With her husband Roger Brown, she has philanthropically supported the Field Museum, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Chicago Botanic Garden.[3] This endowment included the new post - the Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology - who directs the Science Museum of Minnesota’s new ornithology department.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d "Barbara Brown Obituary - Skokie, IL | Chicago Tribune".
- ^ a b c d e f Megan, Graydon. "Barbara Brown, Field Museum research assistant on expeditions to far-flung locales, dies". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
- ^ a b "Barbara Brown, Field Museum staffer, donor who had 4 species named for her, dies".
- ^ bpatterson (Feb 23, 2011). "Scientists discover striking new species of cloud-forest rodent in Peru". Field Museum.
- ^ a b Beolens, Bo. (2009). The eponym dictionary of mammals. Watkins, Michael, 1940-, Grayson, Michael. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-8018-9533-3. OCLC 593239356.
- ^ "$2 million donation is largest in Science Museum of Minnesota's history". May 18, 2018.
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