Year: 2000
Type: article
Abstract: On 11 June 2000, Dr. Elmer C. Birney unexpectedly passed away from cardiac arrest suffered while outside caring for his cattle at his home in Blaine, Minnesota. One of his former students, Robert Timm, probably best expressed the immediate reaction of his family and many friends: “He was too young and in too good of health to be gone so soon.” At the time of his death, Elmer was Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, the Curator of Mammals at the Bell Museum of Natural History, and Director of Graduate Studies of the program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota. Dr. Birney was born 26 March 1940 in Satanta, Haskell County, Kansas, to Russell and Esther Birney. He had 2 sisters—Letty Gay and Lorna Ann. Elmer married Marcia F. McVey on 5 August 1961 in Culver City, California. They had 2 children, Amy and Clayton, and 2 grandchildren, Aaron and Danielle. Elmer's family described its feeling about him in the obituary that appeared in Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “He was a great husband, father, grandfather, friend, University of Minnesota Professor, and hobby farmer who loved his life.” Dr. Birney attended the public schools of Sublette and Satanta, Kansas, and he graduated from Satanta Rural High School in May 1958. Elmer enjoyed athletics and played both football and basketball throughout high school as well as participating in the junior class play. His high school graduation motto really did set the tone for the remainder of his life: “The men who roll up their sleeves never lose their shirts.” Although he was never truly passionate about professional sports, he still knowledgeably followed his favorite teams, and he and his wife played in an adult volleyball league. Elmer had a competitive streak that sports helped fill. While locked in a serious administrative struggle that could have affected the future of the Bell Museum, he began an e-mail to one of us (Phillips, 6 June 1995) by writing, ”I had a bit of fun beating up on the Dean's volleyball team yesterday. But I digress!” Elmer was never far from his rural Kansas roots as he explained on his personal Web site: My interest in living things goes back to the earliest memories of my childhood on the farm. What will the babies look like? It was my burning desire for years to crossbreed varieties of every species of livestock and poultry on the farm just to see what the babies would look like. Imagine my surprise when I learned that Gregor Mendel had shared a similar interest, albeit at a more sophisticated level. After learning of Charles Darwin's great insights, I was forever hooked. Then, when I learned that with a lot of hard work and a little luck one can actually study plants and animals full time and simultaneously put bread on the table, I knew that I had found my niche. Elmer entered Fort Hays State University in the fall semester of 1958. One of us (Choate) recalls that the best story about Elmer is told by the older faculty in the Department of Biology at Fort Hays State University. The story goes that this gangly country boy walked in one day and announced that he wanted to take biology courses for just 1 year so that he could get a job in a grain elevator. That gangly country boy eventually took more than 90 hours of credit in biology at Fort Hays State University (literally every biology course offered at that time) and became one of the most accomplished scientists ever produced by the department. Elmer left the university at the end of his 1st academic year and joined the United States Navy, being on active duty from 1959 to 1961 and active and inactive reserve from 1961 to 1965. He was on Western Pacific cruise in January to July 1960, with the remainder of his enlisted time spent in basic training and aboard U.S.S. Preston-DD-795. Elmer was honorably discharged in 1965 with the terminal rank of YN3. Elmer Clea Birney during his presidency of the American Society of Mammalogists, 1988–1990 Elmer returned to Fort Hays State University in 1961. He graduated with a bachelor's in biology in 1963 and received his master's degree in 1965, with a major in zoology and a minor in botany. His early interests in barnyard genetics largely were replaced by a love for mammals that developed during his 1st course in mammalogy, taught by his 1st mentor, Eugene D. Fleharty. Elmer recorded this course as the most influential in his formal education. Fleharty recalled the time he, Elmer, Marcia, and Kenneth Anderson visited the Blue Rapids mine in northern Kansas. Fleharty and Marcia remained outside while Elmer and Anderson went inside. Because the mine was so large and had dozens of side passages, previous visitors had tied string near the entrance to use in finding their way back. Elmer picked up the end of a piece of string and dragged it behind him as he and Anderson wandered hundreds of yards through the maze of passages. After several hours, they had not returned and Fleharty and Marcia were becoming worried. Elmer and Anderson finally emerged and Elmer explained that they reached a dead end and began following the string back to the entrance only to discover that the string was just 25 yards long. This was the 1st of several instances showing Elmer's uncanny sense of direction. After Elmer earned his masters, he taught at Kearney State College, Kearney, Nebraska (now University of Nebraska–Kearney), as an instructor of biology in 1965–1966. He entered the University of Kansas in 1966 with J. Knox Jones, Jr., as his academic advisor. He received his doctorate in 1970 with his dissertation topic of Systematics of Three Species of Woodrats (genus Neotoma) in the Central Great Plains which was published as Miscellaneous Publication of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Kansas. One of us (Phillips) remembers his 1st meeting with Elmer in 1966. J. Knox Jones had assigned us to a common office, which we shared until 1969. I learned that Elmer was from western Kansas and had served the Navy aboard a destroyer stationed in the Pacific. Surprised that a Kansas farm boy would go to sea, I asked, “Were you ever disoriented, surrounded only by salt water?” “Yes,” he replied, “especially when I had the helm at night.” “What then?” I asked. “Oh, regardless of the actual compass heading, I always imagined that I was going north. It had a calming, reorienting effect.” Thirty years later, in 1995, Elmer and I climbed a mountainside in Patagonia. We were setting traps and sharing an intertwined set of scientific and personal things, which was our habit while in the field together. We tarried, stopping often to catch our breath or make a point in our conversation. Finally, as the sun dropped behind the Andes and a bitter southerly wind chilled us to the bone, we realized that we were far from camp and without flashlights. We started downhill in inky darkness (the Southern Cross and Magellanic clouds being inadequate sources of light), stumbling and groping our way. Are we headed in the right direction, one of us wondered aloud. Finally I asked Elmer, “Are you disoriented? Do you know the way?” He stepped in front, taking the lead on the steep, rocky slope. Over his shoulder he said, “I was confused, but now that I'm heading north, everything will be okay.” Elmer Birney always had the facility to head north when things needed straightening out. After completing his doctorate, Elmer took an assistant professor position in the Department of Ecology and Behavioral Biology (now Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior) at the University of Minnesota. He came to the interview at Minnesota directly from field work and was forced to wear his field boots throughout the interview when he realized that he had neglected to pack additional footwear. Elmer held this 1st position until 1974, when he was promoted to associate professor and in 1981 to professor. He held the position of curator of mammals in the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History from 1970 until his death. As the director of the Bell Museum of Natural History from 1990 to 1992, during a critical point in its history, Elmer helped assure that the museum would continue to serve the people of Minnesota for decades to come. He eloquently described his experiences as a museum administrator in an article in Curator: The Museum Journal, which appeared in 1994. Dr. Birney spent December 1977 to March 1978 as a visiting research associate in the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Here, funded by the National Science Foundation, he conducted research on the biosynthesis of L-ascorbic acid by monotremes, marsupials, and placental mammals. Another of Elmer's international experiences was in the Antarctic from October until mid-December 1977, where, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, he participated in research on seals. His steady approach to work and self-effacing sense of humor were well suited to the rigors of such work, including his ability to survive the abrupt sinking of his tracked vehicle. Another of his experiences there (as related to Phillips) illustrates his general approach to life. Elmer befriended a Navy pilot who provided him with a clandestine flight to the pole. Once there, Elmer walked to the exact spot and ran around in tight circles so he could claim to have the made the quickest possible round-the-world run. Remembering a similar incident after learning of Elmer's passing, his Argentine colleague, J. Adrian Monjeau, noted that when they were together in Spain for a mammal conference (1998), they drove to the coastal village of Finisterre and walked to the farthest rocks so that they could say they had gone to the end of the earth together. Elmer Birney directed the doctoral programs of 6 students, including Richard P. Lampe, Lynn L. Rogers, Steven H. Fritts, Donna D. Baird, Robert S. Sikes, and Jan Decher and was directing the programs of Kristin M. Kramer and Anja K. Brunet at the time of his death. He directed the master's programs of 15 students, including Robert M. Timm, Russell J. Rothman, Jeanette T. Thomas, Susan J. Busch, Thomas J. Meier, Suzanne E. Braun, Nancy E. Geving, Brenda V. Lyseng, Leon J. Raudys, Brian D. Konito, Timothy E. Susman, Kristin M. Kramer, Gerda E. Nordquist, Denise Woodward, and Anja K. Brunet. Beginning in 1972, Elmer taught a very popular course in mammalogy. At the undergraduate level, he taught “Ecology and Evolution” in 1972–1975, 1977, 1979, and 1981. Subsequently, he helped design a beginning general biology course with an evolutionary approach that he taught in 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, and 1991, and he cotaught another undergraduate course, “Biology: Organismal Adaptation and Diversity,” from 1994 to 1998. Elmer also taught a variety of graduate seminars in the areas of mammalogy, evolution, and biogeography. Although student evaluations for Elmer Birney's classes were always very positive, he laughed about a comment he received on an evaluation shortly after he arrived from Kansas. One student remarked that she “loved the course and especially enjoyed the professor's delivery. He sounds just like Festus Hagen from Gunsmoke.” Besides administrative responsibilities, Elmer Birney served the University of Minnesota by participating on numerous departmental, museum, college, and university-wide committees, including the Department Curriculum Committee, 1974–1980 and 1996–1997 (chair, 1980); Ecology Building Planning Committee, 1988–1992; Bell Museum Editorial Committee, 1971–1980 and 1985–1990; Bell Museum Computer Committee, 1985–1990 (chair, 1985–1989); Bell Museum Strategic Planning Committee, 1995–1996; College Educational Policy Committee, 1974–1977, 1983–1986 (chair, 1976–1977); College General Biology Program Committee, 1979–2000; All-University Committee on Animal Care and Use, 1988–1990; All-University Committee on Collections, 1990–1995 (chair, 1990–1992). Elmer was a strong and capable leader in graduate education and friend to many students, serving as Director of Graduate Studies in one of the University's most well-recognized programs, Ecology, from 1981 to 1984 and 1998 to 2000 and in Zoology from 1985 to 2000. To honor Elmer's commitment to graduate education, a memorial fund has been established to provide support for students in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. Elmer C. Birney (left) prepares for the business meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists at the 78th annual meeting in 1998 held at Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg. Dr. Birney is joined by his colleagues Robert S. Sikes (center) and Jerry R. Choate (right) One of the traits that made Elmer an excellent advisor and mentor was that he treated graduate students as respected colleagues and truly valued their input. In conversations with his colleagues, Elmer regularly found opportunities to promote his and was always to credit for their to his research This was not for his students, as by expressed by numerous graduate students with he had an to in his as Director of Graduate was it to graduate In learning of Elmer's that it was largely his as an undergraduate research and assistant with Elmer and his students that the of his undergraduate with Marcia, Elmer his academic through and to take an active in the of at One of us remembers the Elmer offered during a critical in life. I was to with the of my at the was as a The job was and my of I did not often personal with Elmer, but it was to him that I was the of what I could He asked I was this I was on graduate school with a and to school and I needed the as well as the He said, is too to for than It was this from which I truly This was a point in my life. I my job and in the that of a I could Another one of us remembers the The time I visited Elmer and they were for a The Birney's were in where, as of the American Society of Mammalogists, he was participating in the meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists and the Argentine their Elmer had a graduate student who had with him only a to in their home for as as it took to a to and for my wife to to I was more than a little by this but as I was to this was in for the Birney's Elmer his students and to family and graduate students to the and often far from their family during the this made Elmer a very and illustrates just he took his as It also my so to to Birney's to or or just a family would you the Elmer C. Birney and J. Adrian up with an to the field on an to the of in Elmer Birney's and colleagues, their and their he helped Dr. J. Adrian to the United States for Elmer the and treated as his Elmer Birney's to in general and in went far the University of Minnesota. He had a personal and professional commitment to the American Society of Mammalogists, which he explained as decades of with professional colleagues who have in every of from 6 years on the for the of and from in more than 25 annual of this I just now beginning to that I know a little about what mammals so Elmer served as the of the American Society of Mammalogists from to 1990 and as the from to He held 2 of the most in the serving as the of the of from 1978 to 1981 and as the of the of from 1981 to He also served as the for from 1984 to and he, with Jerry R. and Publication of to which was on the of the of the Society at its annual meeting in in 1994. Elmer a of years of to the Society through work on and committees, including years (chair, Systematics Collections, (chair, (chair, (chair, Strategic of on Society 2 In of his many to the Elmer Birney received its in the H. T. of this Elmer's to the Society well have been his in the of the of the Mammalogists for support of programs for student and for his of numerous and to on the Elmer Birney had a sense of and most often his in a His and was a of many of the American Society of He was also noted for which “The of species is to the of of and you a mammal as to its you will have a One of his many Jones, us of is to Elmer's and the 2 will continue to be at of the Society after his The American Society of Mammalogists was not the only professional to Elmer Birney's time and He served as an associate for the American from to Elmer served the Minnesota which had a to support to and to the public about as the in as from to and as of the of from to and 1990 to He also served the Society as a of the State Committee from to (chair, and Committee (chair, which research to graduate Elmer Birney's research on evolutionary of mammals was conducted in the United and Australia. In the of was of of this but he loved being and mammals. At the of a business to a of American Society of he “I just spent 2 especially in the which I in the just the of from being with Elmer to take up several One of the most for one of us during the of We were about a of the which at this point the the of and We were in a not far from the on this and at we had setting our traps for for and for We were for when it began to We in our for about an for the to but it only and We finally became many of Elmer's traps were set very near the and this was We our university and drove the but were back by the we could the the of high They were and to see we know this was a It was that about traps were a to the Pacific As we drove back to we started our together for Knox Jones we returned to school in Kansas. As we our it became not only was the but so was our As we stepped the there was about a of and our which were us in was so we began our the we put the in and the Elmer asked that we a and he stepped outside the In a of I the and to my Elmer had his and began in the with of as his only I asked what he was he we had a in a and it could be that we have That was Elmer, was so that good from This sense of humor and made him a great field and his professional Elmer to as as possible about in the of and their evolutionary and history, and and The of his research can be from the high of the international and in which his work including American of Ecology, Ecology, of Ecology, Evolution, Biochemistry and United States Antarctic Journal, Behavioral Ecology and of of of of the Society of American and The University of Kansas Science in his Elmer his work on of mammals as of the United States beginning in the he was in with Robert on the of the ability of mammals to L-ascorbic Beginning in the his interests were by work on the and of mammals in with J. J. Adrian Monjeau, and Robert S. his in Elmer mammals of the to their in to with their Elmer Birney was also an excellent and the in his published to his to about and with him could from L-ascorbic acid to and it came to was his interest or The favorite of one of us (Phillips) of Elmer is the The one that came my head as I about is from our work in in We had up a rocky near a The very of the of a of 6 by 6 that We up there just at In we could see a with and and But we could see in to that ever on the of from They walked together our and our I and ran until of We there in for and Elmer said, is we came be this was there was to always His many in will similar field experiences with Although we will always we also will know that there was far more to Elmer C. Birney.
Source: Journal of Mammalogy
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2108477860