Jim Deacon
Jim
Deacon at Entrance to Browns
Room in Devils Hole. Photo by A. Haugen
College:
University
of Kansas
Degree:
Ph.D. Biology
with an emphasis in Ichthyology, 1960
Occupation:
University
Professor, and now Distinguished Emeritus
Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology, UNLV
Professor of Environmental Studies and Biology, UNLV
Why
did you choose this career?
"I
grew up in South Dakota with a family who enjoyed nature, and spent a
lot of time at our cabin on the lake, with the refuge manager and his
family at the Waubay National Wildlife Refuge, and with my parents and
grandparents in the great outdoors. We did a lot of fishing, a hobby which
led to my interest in specializing in ichthyology in graduate school."
Job
Description at Devils Hole:
"In
connection with my job at UNLV, I did research on the life history of
Devils Hole pupfish and other desert fishes, I also advised graduate students
who did thesis projects involving studies of Devils Hole pupfish."
What advice do you have for the kids who want to do something like this:
"Spend
as much time as possible outdoors playing, swimming, fishing, hunting,
with your pet dog, with your friends and family. Get interested in identifying
what it is you're looking at, watching it to see how it makes its living,
understanding what it eats, what eats it, where it lives, what it does
during goof off time, during mating season, when it's cold, when it's
hot, and when the weather is just perfect. It's okay to spend the whole
day watching a single lizard or a minnow in the creek. Wonder, ask questions,
imagine!"