Virginia Marie Peterson was the wife of Roger Tory Peterson, founder of the popular Peterson Field Guide series, and contirbutor to many books in that series[1][2] They wed in 1976, both having been previously married and divorced, she once and him twice.[1] At the time of their marriage, Roger Tory Peterson was a well known naturalist, artist and the author of fourteen books including popular field guides to birds and many other taxonomic groups, including trees, flowering plants, ferns, mammals and insects.[1]
Virginia Marie Peterson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Virginia Marie Westervelt May 30, 1925 Boston, Massachusetts, US |
| Died | April 15, 2001 (aged 75) Old Lyme, Connecticut, US |
| Resting place | Duck River Cemetery, Old Lyme, Connecticut, US |
| Occupation | research chemist, nature field guide author |
| Nationality | USA |
| Spouse | Roger Tory Peterson |
Virginia Peterson contributed the first set of species range maps[3][4] to the updated fifth edition of A Field Guide to the Birds[5]. The first guide in the popular Peterson Field Guide series was published in 1934.[6][7][8] The introduction of the range maps was reflected in the copyright of this and the updated field guide in the series for western birds, with her range maps, being expanded to include Virginia Peterson.[5]
Range Maps in Ornithology and Conservation Biology
editWhen Virginia Peterson first developed and introduced range maps for birds to birdwatchers, ornithologist and conservation biologists, satellite data and digital maps were not publicly available[9], and GPS tracking with geolocators in ornithology and ecology was not yet developed.[8][10] With increasing affordability range maps have become an important tool in conservation biology.[11][12] In addition, the location metadata on photographs taken with smartphones, has allowed citizen scientists to upload information to databases such as e-bird to support interactive range maps.[13]
Awards
edit- 2001 Roger Tory Peterson Medal[8][14], Harvard Museum of Natural History, Harvard University
Publications
editPeterson, R. T. and Peterson, V. M. (2002). Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America. Fifth Edition. United States: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Peterson, R. T. and Peterson, V. M. (1999). A Field Guide to the Birds: Eastern and Central North America: Large Format Edition. United States: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 9780395963715, 0395963710
Peterson, R. T. and Peterson, V. M. (1990). A Field Guide to Western Birds: A Completely New Guide to Field Marks of All Species Found in North America West of the 100th Meridian and North of Mexico. Third Edition. Boston, New York USA: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 9780618132188
Peterson, R. T. and Peterson, V. M. (1983) Audubon's Birds of America: The National Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio. United States: Abbeville Press, Incorporated.
References
edit- ^ a b c "Miss Westervelt Wed to Naturalist". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ Obituaries (2001-04-19). "PETERSON, VIRGINIA MARIE". Hartford Courant. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ "Range maps - Birds of the World". birdsoftheworld.org. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ "BirdLife Data Zone". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ a b Peterson, Roger Tory (2002). Peterson Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America. HarperCollins: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780547345857.
- ^ Blakely, Julia (December 4, 2018). "Spotting a First Edition of Peterson's A Field Guide to the Birds". Smithsonian Libraries and Archives / Unbound. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ Howard, Lee. "New book on Roger Tory Peterson explores personal side". www.theday.com. The Day Publishing Company, New London, Connecticut, USA. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ a b c Weservelt, Linda Marie (2020). Where Bluebirds Fly: Inside the World of Roger Tory Peterson and Virginia Marie Peterson. Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp (published November 29, 2020). ISBN 9798693721470.
- ^ Balstad, Roberta (2005). Nelson, Richard R (ed.). "Satellite Data". The Limits of Market Organization. Russell Sage Foundation: 294–317. ISBN 9781610444248.
- ^ "Tracking Devices". Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ Graham, Catherine H.; Hijmans, Robert J. (2006). "A comparison of methods for mapping species ranges and species richness". Global Ecology and Biogeography. 15 (6): 578–587. Bibcode:2006GloEB..15..578G. doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2006.00257.x. ISSN 1466-822X.
- ^ Hurlbert, Allen H.; Jetz, Walter (2007). "Species richness, hotspots, and the scale dependence of range maps in ecology and conservation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (33): 13384–13389. Bibcode:2007PNAS..10413384H. doi:10.1073/pnas.0704469104. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1948922. PMID 17686977.
- ^ "Range maps - eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ Aguilera, Mario (2008-04-03). "Jeremy Jackson Honored by Harvard Museum of Natural History | Scripps Institution of Oceanography". scripps.ucsd.edu. Retrieved 2024-06-19.