{{Short description|English ecologist}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}} '''Paul Colinvaux''' (September 22, 1930 – February 28, 2016<ref>{{Cite web |title=Paul Colinvaux: Obituary |work=The New York Times |date=2016-03-27 |url=http://www.legacy.com/ |via=Legacy.com |access-date=March 27, 2016 |archive-date=October 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151008034159/http://www.legacy.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Paul A. Colinvaux |publisher=Marine Biological Laboratory, The University of Chicago |url=https://www.mbl.edu/obituaries/paul-colinvaux/ }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>) was an ecologist and professor emeritus at Ohio State University.

Colinvaux was born in London, England. He attended University College School ("UCS") in London, where his activities included rowing in the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta. After graduating from UCS, Colinvaux earned a commission in the Royal Artillery. He was stationed in Germany as part of the British occupation after World War II. Colinvaux achieved the rank of second lieutenant.

After leaving the army, Colinvaux matriculated at the University of Cambridge (Jesus College). After graduating, he emigrated to New Brunswick, Canada, where he was employed by a government soil survey. In New Brunswick, Colinvaux met his future wife, Llewellya Hillis of Windsor, Ontario. Hillis and Colinvaux married in British Columbia, before emigrating to the United States where Colinvaux earned his Ph.D. at Duke University. After completing post-doctoral studies at Yale University, Colinvaux and Hillis took up "his and her" appointments in the Department of Botany & Zoology at Ohio State University in 1964. They remained at the university until approximately 1990.

During his years at Ohio State University, Colinvaux won every teaching prize that could then be awarded for undergraduate teaching. He also played a role in ending the 1970 student riots at OSU (which is chronicled in Woody Hayes' memoir, ''You Win With People'').

In 1991, Colinvaux and Hillis left Ohio State University to take positions with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bush |first=Mark B. |last2=Riedinger-Whitmore |first2=Melanie A. |last3=Steinitz-Kannan |first3=Miriam |last4=Miller |first4=Michael C. |last5=De Oliveira |first5=Paulo E. |date=2016-07-01 |title=Resolution of Respect: Paul Colinvaux 1930–2016 |url=https://www.esa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/94/2022/02/Colinvaux_PA.pdf |access-date=2025-09-09 |website=The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America |publisher=Ecological Society of America |edition=Volume 97, Issue 3}}</ref> He left STRI later in the 1990s and, after settling in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, became affiliated with the University of Chicago Marine Biological Laboratory Ecosystems Center.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Paul A. Colinvaux |url=https://www.mbl.edu/obituaries/paul-colinvaux/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104125948/https://www.mbl.edu/obituaries/paul-colinvaux/ |archive-date=2022-01-04 |access-date= |website=mbl.edu}}</ref>

==Life== Colinvaux was the author of several books, including ''Why Big Fierce Animals Are Rare: An Ecologist's Perspective'' (1978), ''The Fates of Nations: A Biological Theory of History'' (1980), and the textbook, ''Ecology'' (1993). Most recently, Colinvaux published a scientific memoir, Amazon Expeditions: ''My Quest for the Ice Age Equator'' (2008).<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Research Briefs |magazine=The Collecting Net |publisher=Communications Office, Marine Biological Laboratory, The University of Chicago |date=Spring 2008 | volume=4 |number=2 |access-date=2016-03-27 |url= http://hermes.mbl.edu/publications/collecting_net/2008/08_05net06.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926071112/http://hermes.mbl.edu/publications/collecting_net/2008/08_05net06.html |archive-date=2015-09-26 }}</ref>

He was the recipient of the Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr Paul Alfred Colinvaux |work=OSU:pro |publisher=The Ohio State University |url = https://pro.osu.edu/profiles/colinvaux.1/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718052519/https://pro.osu.edu/profiles/colinvaux.1/ |archive-date=2011-07-18 }}</ref>

He presented the PBS television series, ''What Ecology Really Says''.<ref>[http://www.ohiocenterforthebook.org/index.php?q=node/159 Paul Colinvaux] Ohio Center for the Book at Cleveland Public Library.</ref>

==Works== *{{cite book |editor-last=Colinvaux |editor-first=Paul A. |date=1970|title=The Environment of Crowded Men|location=New York|publisher=MSS Educational Publishing|isbn=084220086X}} *{{cite book |last=Colinvaux |first=Paul A. |title=Introduction to ecology |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=1973 |isbn=0-471-16498-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontoec00coli }} *{{cite book |last=Colinvaux |first=Paul A. |title=Why big fierce animals are rare: an ecologist's perspective |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J |year=1978 |isbn=0-691-02364-6 |url=https://last.org/details/whybigfierceanim00paul }} *{{cite book |author=Colinvaux |first=Paul A. |title=The Fates of Nations: A Biological Theory of History |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |year=1980 |isbn=0-671-25204-6}} *{{cite book |last=Colinvaux |first=Paul A. |date=1986|title=Ecology|location=New York|publisher=Wiley|isbn=0471165026}} *{{cite book |last=Colinvaux |first=Paul A. |title=Ecology 2 |url=https://archive.org/details/ecology20000coli |url-access=registration |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=1993 |isbn=0-471-59954-9}} *{{cite book |last=Colinvaux |first=Paul A. |title=Amazon expeditions: my quest for the ice-age equator |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Conn |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-300-11544-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/amazonexpedition00coli }}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colinvaux, Paul}} Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:American ecologists Category:1930 births Category:2016 deaths Category:Ohio State University faculty Category:People educated at University College School

{{Ecology-bio-stub}} {{UK-biologist-stub}}