Editing Archie Carr

{{Short description|American herpetologist, ecologist and conservationist}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2011}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Archie Carr
| image = 
| image_size = 
| birth_date = June 16, 1909
| birth_place = [[Mobile, Alabama]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|5|21|1909|6|16}}
| death_place = [[Micanopy, Florida]]
| field = [[Herpetology]]<br />[[Conservation Biology]]<br />[[Ecology]]<br />[[Marine Biology]]
| work_institutions = [[University of Florida]]
| alma_mater = University of Florida
| known_for = World authority on [[sea turtle]]s
| prizes = [[Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal]] (1952)
| spouse = [[Marjorie Harris Carr]]
}}
'''Archibald Fairly Carr Jr.''' (June 16, 1909 – May 21, 1987) was an American [[herpetology|herpetologist]], [[ecology|ecologist]], and [[conservation movement|conservationist]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archie Carr (June 16, 1909–May 21, 1987) |url=https://apps.lib.ua.edu/blogs/this-goodly-land/author/?AuthorID=178}}</ref> He was a [[Professor]] of [[Zoology]] at the [[University of Florida]] and a writer on science and nature. He brought attention to the world's declining [[sea turtle]] populations due to [[over-exploitation]] and [[habitat loss]]. Wildlife refuges in [[Florida]] and [[Costa Rica]] have been named in his honor.

==Biography==
{{expand_section|date=June 2011}}
Born in [[Mobile, Alabama]], to a [[Presbyterian]] pastor,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Owen |first1=Thomas McAdory |title=History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography|volume= 3|date=1921 |publisher=The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company |location=Chicago |page=302 |url=https://archive.org/details/history-of-alabama-owen-v3/page/n271/mode/2up}}</ref> Carr grew up in Mobile, [[Fort Worth, Texas]], and [[Savannah, Georgia]]. He studied Biology with specialization in zoology at the [[University of Florida]] (UF), eventually specializing in [[herpetology]] too. He further refined that interest to the study of [[turtle]]s and eventually became one of the world's foremost authorities on [[sea turtle]]s. He married [[Marjorie Harris Carr]], a conservationist herself.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Archie F. Carr, Jr. Papers |url=https://findingaids.uflib.ufl.edu/repositories/2/resources/1124 |website=ufl.edu}}</ref>

While a student at UF, he became a member of the [[Pi Kappa Phi]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Seminole Yearbook|year=1932|publisher=University of Florida|location=Gainesville, FL|page=41}}</ref> From UF, he received bachelor's degree in 1932, M.S. in 1934, and Ph.D. in 1937.<ref>{{cite news|author=Brody, Jane E.|authorlink=Jane Brody|title=Archie Carr, zoologist, dies; devoted career to sea turtle|date=23 May 1987|newspaper=NY Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/23/obituaries/archie-carr-zoologist-dies-devoted-career-to-sea-turtle.html}}</ref>

He was a high school science teacher before becoming a college professor.  He published numerous books and articles, including ''Ulendo: Travels of a Naturalist in and out of Africa'', ''High Jungles and Low'', ''So Excellent a Fishe'' (about his green turtles), ''[[The Windward Road]]'' and several [[TIME|Time-Life]] books such as ''The Everglades'' and ''The Reptiles''. He also authored the ''Handbook of Turtles'', and with [[Coleman Jett Goin]], ''Guide to the Reptiles, Amphibians and Freshwater Fishes of Florida''. While a serious scientific and nature writer, he also published a parody of scientific taxonomic keys – his ''A Subjective Key to the Fishes of Alachua County, Florida'', affectionately known as the "Carr Key".

Carr became a bit of a legend at UF, and students vied with one another to take his Community Ecology course in which they were involved in several major and minor field trips around northern [[Florida]] and southern [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]. Listening to Carr talk about the [[Sand Pine]] [[Florida scrub|scrub]] near [[Ocala, Florida|Ocala]] or his comments as he guided students through the [[Okefenokee Swamp]] in [[canoe]]s was considered a great privilege.{{citation needed|date=May 2011}}

Carr was also known for his efforts in conservation, especially for sea turtles, helping convince [[Costa Rica]] to establish [[Tortuguero National Park]] in 1975. He was a co-founder of the [[Caribbean Conservation Corporation]], which helps to save and monitor sea turtles in [[Tortuguero, Costa Rica|Tortuguero]], Costa Rica. He often joined his wife Marjorie Carr in conservation work, as she was a major advocate for conservation in her own right. In 1952 the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] awarded Carr the [[Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal]].<ref name=Elliot>{{cite web |title=Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal |url=http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_elliot |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=February 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604022929/http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AWARDS_elliot |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy }}</ref>

==Legacy==
*Founder and Scientific Director of Sea Turtle Conservancy (formerly Caribbean Conservation Corporation) from 1959 until his death in 1987.
*The [[Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge]], which covers the beaches from [[Melbourne Beach, Florida|Melbourne Beach]] south to [[Wabasso Beach, Florida|Wabasso Beach]] was set up in 1994 in honor of his efforts.
*In 1994, the [[Dr. Archie Carr Wildlife Refuge]] was established in [[Costa Rica]] in his memory.
*Carr's son, Archie Carr III, is a conservationist who coordinated Central American programs for the [[New York Zoological Society]] (now known as the [[Wildlife Conservation Society]]); Carr III was instrumental in establishing the [[Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary]] in Belize.
*A book about Carr entitled ''The Man Who Saved Sea Turtles: Archie Carr and the Origins of Conservation'' was published in 2007 by Oxford University Press. This book was written by Frederick R. Davis, Assistant Professor of History at the Florida State University.
*Carr's work is referenced in the 1985 romantic-drama film ''[[Turtle Diary]]''.
*The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has named its newest building after Archie and Marjorie Carr.
*Carr is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of snake, ''[[Sibon carri]]''.<ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. ("Carr", p. 48).</ref>
*In 1987 the [[Ecological Society of America]] awarded Carr the [[Eminent Ecologist Award]].
*World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated on June 16th, coinciding with Archie Carr's birthday.<ref name="World Sea Turtle Day">{{cite web | title=» June 16th is World Sea Turtle Day! | website=Sea Turtle Conservancy – Helping Sea Turtles Survive Since 1959 | date=9 June 2014 | url=https://conserveturtles.org/june-16th-is-world-sea-turtle-day/ | access-date=17 June 2024}}</ref>

==Works==
*Carr, Archie (1952). ''Handbook of Turtles; the Turtles of the United States, Canada, and Baja California''.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Milne | first1=Lorus J. | last2=Milne | first2=Margery J. | title=Review of ''Handbook of Turtles: The Turtles of the United States, Canada, and Baja California'' by Archie Carr. Ithaca, N. Y.: Comstock Pub., Cornell Univ. Press, 1952. 542 pp. $7.50. | journal=Science | publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) | volume=116 | issue=3007 | date=1952-08-15 | issn=0036-8075 | doi=10.1126/science.116.3007.181.a | pages=181| s2cid=239822332 }}</ref> {{cite book|title=1995 pbk edition|isbn=0-801-48254-2 |last1=Carr |first1=Archie |year=1952 |publisher=Comstock Pub. Associates }}
*Carr, Archie (1953). ''High Jungles and Low''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lobeck, A. K.|authorlink=Armin K. Lobeck|title=Review of ''High Jungles and Low'' by Archie Carr|journal=Geographical Review|volume=45|issue=2|date=April 1955|pages=305–307|doi=10.2307/212252|jstor=212252}}</ref>
*Carr, Archie, and [[:fr:Coleman Jett Goin|Coleman J. Goin]] (1955). ''Guide to the Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes of Florida''.
*Carr, Archie (1956). ''The Windward Road'', 1st edition.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Lynn | first=W. Gardner | title=Review of ''The Windward Road'' by Archie Carr. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956. Pp. xvi, 258. Index. $4.50.) | journal=The Americas | publisher=Cambridge University Press (CUP) | volume=13 | issue=1 | year=1957 | issn=0003-1615 | doi=10.2307/979224 | pages=95–96| jstor=979224 | s2cid=146889122 }} [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/americas/article/abs/two-jamaicas-the-role-of-ideas-in-a-tropical-colony-18301865-by-philip-curtin-cambridge-harvard-university-press-1955-pp-xii-270-illus-475/25FE601CA992425D96418467FDEDB75C p. 96]</ref> {{cite book|title=1979 edition|isbn=0-8130-0639-2 |last1=Carr |first1=Archie |year=1979 |publisher=University Presses of Florida }}. {{cite book|title=2013 edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r5LM4sYv9dsC|isbn=978-0307832115|last1=Carr|first1=Archie|date=2013-06-26| publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing }}
*Carr, Archie (1963). ''The Reptiles'' (Series: [[LIFE Nature Library]]).
*Carr, Archie (1964). ''Ulendo: Travels of a Naturalist in and out of Africa''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Review of ''Ulendo: Travels of a Naturalist in and out of Africa'' by Archie Carr|website=Kirkus Reviews|date= June 15, 1964|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/archie-carr-4/ulendo-travels-of-a-naturalist-in-and-out-of-af-2/}}</ref>
*Carr, Archie (1967, 1984). ''So Excellent a Fishe: A Natural History of Sea Turtles''. ({{ISBN|0-292-77595-4}}).
*Carr, Archie (1973). ''The Everglades''. (Time-Life Book).
*Carr, Archie (Marjorie Carr, editor) (1994). ''A Naturalist in Florida: A Celebration of Eden''. ({{ISBN|0-300-05589-7}}).<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ellison, Aaron M.|authorlink=Aaron M. Ellison|title=Review of ''A Naturalist in Florida: A Celebration of Eden'' by Archie Carr; edited by Marjorie Harris Carr|journal=The Quarterly Review of Biology|volume=70|issue=1|date=March 1995|pages=62–63|doi=10.1086/418871}}</ref> {{cite book|title=1996 edition|postscript=; pbk|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OPy3QhYVXmAC|isbn=978-0300068542|last1=Carr|first1=Archie|date=September 1996|publisher=Yale University Press }}

==Academic genealogy==
Archie Carr graduated with his PhD in 1938 from the University of Florida under J.S. Rogers.  His academic ancestry passes from Rogers (PhD 1929 University of Illinois), through [[Stephen Alfred Forbes]] (PhD 1884 Indiana University) (the first Chief of the Illinois Natural History Survey and a founder of aquatic ecosystem science<ref>[http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu Illinois Natural History Survey]</ref>), the eminent evolutionary biologist and ecologist [[David Starr Jordan]] (PhD 1872 Cornell), to [[Louis Agassiz]] (PhD 1829 Munich, Germany) the eminent ichthyologist, geologist, and natural historian.

Carr advised and graduated 18 PhD students while faculty at the University of Florida: D.A. Belkin (1961), [[Karen Bjorndal|Karen A. Bjorndal]] (1979), D.K. Caldwell (1957), S.P. Christman (1975), M.J. Corn (1981), J.W. Crenshaw, Jr. (1955), D.C. Dietz (1979), [[David Ehrenfeld|D.W. Ehrenfeld (1966)]], D.E. Goodman (1971), E.V. Gourley (1969), H.F. Hirth (1962), C.G. Jackson (1964), J.F. Jackson (1972), A.B. Meylan (1984), J.A. Mortimer (1981), Robert H. Mount (1961), [[Peter Pritchard|Peter C. Pritchard]] (1969), and [[Douglas A. Rossman]] (1962).<ref>Adler, Kraig, editor (2012). ''Contributions to the History of Herpetology. Volume 3''. Vancouver, British Columbia: Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 564 pp. {{ISBN|9780916984823}}.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*[https://conserveturtles.org/ Sea Turtle Conservancy]

==Further reading==
*Davis, Frederick Rowe (2007). [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Man_Who_Saved_Sea_Turtles.html?id=4nIulyb6XcUC ''The Man Who Saved Sea Turtles: Archie Carr and the Origins of Conservation Biology'']. New York: Oxford University Press. 308 pp. {{ISBN|0-195-31077-2}}.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Archie}}
[[Category:University of Florida alumni]]
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1987 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American zoologists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Fort Worth, Texas]]
[[Category:University of Florida faculty]]
[[Category:John Burroughs Medal recipients]]
[[Category:American herpetologists]]
[[Category:American non-fiction environmental writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Activists from Texas]]
[[Category:Writers from Mobile, Alabama]]
[[Category:People from Micanopy, Florida]]
[[Category:Writers from Fort Worth, Texas]]