Background
Raymond Fredric Dasmann was born on May 27, 1919, in San Francisco, California, United States. He was the son of William H. and Mary McDonnell Dasmann.
Berkeley, CA, United States
Raymond received his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of California, and in 1954 embarked on a distinguished career in teaching, research, and public service.
ecologist educator author bilogist
Raymond Fredric Dasmann was born on May 27, 1919, in San Francisco, California, United States. He was the son of William H. and Mary McDonnell Dasmann.
Raymond's college education in biology was interrupted by World War II; he served in New Guinea and Australia. Soon after his return to the United States, Dasmann enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley to study zoology under famed wildlife biologist Starker Leopold. He received his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy from Berkeley, and in 1954 embarked on a distinguished career in teaching, research, and public service.
Other than a brief appointment at the University of Minnesota, Raymond F. Dasmann's academic roots remained planted in California. He was a professor of wildlife management at Humboldt State University for eight years before joining the faculty at the University of California Santa Cruz in 1977. He retired from the university in 1989.
Dasmann's talent for outstanding scientific research was matched by his desire to change the world. A gifted writer, Dasmann was equally at home in the field, the classroom, and the policy arena. He translated his passion for nature into a vision of planet preservation years before the public began to grapple with concepts like conservation and overpopulation. Dasmann's research took him to Africa, Sri Lanka, the Caribbean, and California.
Dasmann fought for the title of his influential text "Environmental Conservation" at a time when the phrase was unknown, and his pioneering work on game ranching in Africa fostered the field of ecodevelopment and helped make ecotourism a household word. Earlier this year, Dasmann published his memoir, "Called by the Wild: The Autobiography of a Conservationist." The book reflects Dasmann's desire to give credit to others, but in fact, Dasmann is one of a handful of visionaries who gave life to the worldwide environmental movement. Although informed by complex scientific observations, Dasmann's vision of conservation was based on one simple fact: Resources are finite. Yet successful conservation strategies aren't simple, and Dasmann always fought for policies that took into account the full complexities of biology.
The public-relations challenges environmentalists face today are similar to those Dasmann faced as a graduate student studying deer populations in northern California. Despite convincing data that predicted a population crash unless the number of deer was reduced, preferably by liberalizing hunting regulations, Dasmann and his colleagues were unable to build the necessary public support among deer hunters, who believed a doe hunt would lead to extinction. As a result, the deer population did indeed crash in the mid-1960s.
For Dasmann, as many scientific researchers committed to using research to inform public policy, the challenge of swaying public opinion persisted throughout his career.
Dasmann's most recent efforts focused on the creation of the Golden Gate Biosphere Reserve (GGBR), one of 300 international sites designated by the United Nations for protection and access. The GGBR consists of more than two million acres that extend from the Bodega Marine Laboratory north of San Francisco to Jasper Ridge near Stanford University and 30 miles offshore to the edge of the Continental Shelf. The reserve is managed by nine separate entities, each of which helps protect the wide variety of native species and natural habitats that characterize the coastal region of central California while offering recreational and educational opportunities for many millions of visitors.
Dasmann was the author of more than a dozen books, including "The Destruction of California" (1965), "Environmental Conservation" (fifth edition 1984), "Wildlife Biology" (second edition 1981), and "California's Changing Environment" (1981).
Dasmann was an early advocate of conservation policies that respected the knowledge and circumstances of indigenous people, and his early call for a vision of bioregionalism that minimized human impact on the land helped lay the groundwork for the field of environmental ethics.
He was one of the first advocates of sustainable development and also proposed that instead of removing indigenous peoples from areas in third-world countries that were being set aside for conservation, they should instead be allowed to remain and become stewards of the land. He also firmly believed that environmental conservation is not just the responsibility of the government but of all individuals, who must act locally as well as globally.
On May 30, 1944, Raymond married Elizabeth Sheldon. Dasmann is survived by his daughters Marlene Dasmann of Santa Cruz, Sandra Dasmann of Santa Cruz, and Lauren Chamberlain of Tucson, Arizona.