Eville Gorham
Eville Gorham FRSC (October 15, 1925 — January 14, 2020) was a Canadian-American scientist whose focus has been understanding the chemistry of fresh waters and the ecology and biogeochemistry of peatlands. In the process, Gorham made a number of practical contributions that included discovering the influence of acid rain in lake acidification, plus the importance of the biological magnification of radioactive fallout isotopes in northern food chains. The former led to legislation and redesign of the power plants of the world to scrub sulfur, and the latter was an early step toward the establishment of an atmospheric nuclear test ban treaty.
Eville Gorham | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 October 1925 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Died | 14 January 2020 (aged 94) Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
| Citizenship | Canadian, American |
| Alma mater | Dalhousie University University College London |
| Known for | Studies of acid rain, peatlands, radioactive fallout |
| Awards | Regents' Medal, University of Minnesota Benjamin Franklin Medal G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award Lifetime achievement award, Society of Wetland Scientists Member of the National Academy of Sciences Fellow of the Ecological Society of America Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Ecology, Limnology, Biogeochemistry |
| Institutions | University College, London (lecturer) Freshwater Biology Association, United Kingdom (Senior Scientific Officer) University of Toronto (Assistant Professor) University of Calgary (Professor, Department of Biology) University of Minnesota (Regents' Professor, Department of Ecology) |
| Doctoral advisor | W. H. Pearsall |
Gorham emphasized that discovery in science is often the result of chance and serendipity, and encouraged students to watch for the opportunities that chance provides. He was recognized by the National Academy of Sciences as a renaissance scholar and has influenced the careers of others.