Paul Gordon Jarvis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Paul Jarvis
FRS FRSE
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Paul Gordon Jarvis
23 May 1935 |
| Died | 5 February 2013 (aged 77) |
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| Spouse(s) | Margaret |
| Children | Three |
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Paul Gordon Jarvis (1935 - 2013) was a very important ecologist. He was a Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Edinburgh. He taught there from 1975 until 2001.
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Studying Plants and Nature
Paul Jarvis went to Oriel College, Oxford where he studied Botany, which is the study of plants. He earned his first degree there.
Later, he went to the University of Sheffield. In 1960, he earned a PhD, which is a very advanced degree. His research was about how Irish oak trees grow and regrow.
He then received a special scholarship from NATO. This allowed him to study at Uppsala University in Sweden. There, he earned another advanced degree in 1963. This degree was in plant physiology, which is about how plants work.
His Work and Discoveries
In 1964, Paul Jarvis moved to Australia. He did more research at a place called the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
He came back to the United Kingdom in 1966. He worked at the University of Aberdeen for nine years. After that, he became a Professor at the University of Edinburgh in 1975. He worked there for 26 years until he retired in 2001.
Professor Jarvis was very interested in plant ecology and plant physiology. He studied how plants interact with their environment. He also looked at how plants function.
He showed how forests are connected to the air around them. He used new ways to measure how much water leaves hold. He also measured how much air goes in and out of tiny holes in leaves. These holes are called stomata.
Paul Jarvis wrote or helped write many important books. One of his books was about how forests use carbon. It was called The carbon balance of forest biomes.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Paul Jarvis received many important awards for his work. In 1997, he was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
The Royal Society said that Professor Jarvis helped us understand how plants use water and make food. This happens from tiny cells to large areas like forests. He was one of the first to study how water moves and is stored in plants. He also looked at how water vapor and carbon dioxide move in leaves.
He created a formula to show how stomata (leaf pores) open and close. This depended on the weather and soil conditions. Many other scientists have used his formula.
He was also a pioneer in measuring how much food forests make and how much carbon dioxide they release. He was a leader in international research on climate change. He studied how more carbon dioxide in the air affects forests. He looked at how forests collect carbon and how plants affect the atmosphere.
In 1978, Professor Jarvis helped start a science magazine called Plant, Cell & Environment. This magazine publishes new research about plants. He also worked on the board of another magazine, Photosynthetica.
He was the President of the Society for Experimental Biology. He was also a Commissioner for the Scottish Natural Heritage. This group helps protect Scotland's nature.
In 1979, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He was also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. He was a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters and the Institute of Biology.
Family Life
Paul Jarvis met his wife, Margaret, when they were both students at Oxford University. They had three children together.
