Carter Rowell Gilbert (1930–2022)

Abstract

C ARTER ROWELL GILBERT, former Emeritus Curator of Ichthyology at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) and Professor of Zoology at the University of Florida (UF), passed away in Gainesville, Florida, on 6 January 2022 at age 91. A detailed synopsis of Carter’s personal and professional life appeared in the ‘‘Historical Perspectives’’ series of Copeia, based on an indepth interview with Carter by one of us (DGS) and Inci A. Bowman during the meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) held in Manaus, Brazil in June 2003 (Smith, 2004). Carter’s professional service as a researcher and teacher at UF spanned 37 years. He was predeceased by his parents and is survived by Nancy, his loving wife of 63 years, sons John M. Gilbert (spouse Marie C.) and Stephen S. Gilbert (spouse Michelle), brothers Dr. Robert F. Gilbert (spouse Ihn Jae) and Dr. William M. Gilbert, six grandchildren, two nephews, six nieces, and several grandnephews and -nieces. Carter descended from a distinguished lineage of biologists. He was born on 23 May 1930 in Huntington, West Virginia, the oldest son of Frank Albert Gilbert (1900–1989) and Eleanor Marshall Gilbert (1900–1987). Carter’s father was a botanist who earned an M.A. and Ph.D. at Harvard University and subsequently worked for the US Department of Agriculture. In 1927, Frank moved to Huntington to become professor and head of the Botany Department at Marshall College (now University), where he also was Curator of the herbarium. Carter’s mother studied biology at the University of Delaware and spent a summer at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where she met David Starr Jordan. She possessed an autographed photograph of Jordan that she later gave to Carter, an item that Carter frequently and proudly displayed to colleagues and friends. Carter’s parents clearly influenced his interests and later career choices. As a boy, Carter often accompanied his father on hikes in the West Virginia countryside, forays that led to his profound interest in natural history at a young age. His boyhood fascination with fishes was inspired from perusing his father’s copy of Jordan and Evermann’s American Food and Game Fishes. In 1942, the Gilbert family moved to Columbus, Ohio, where Carter’s father served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army during World War II. Upon graduation from Upper Arlington High School in 1947, Carter immediately enrolled at Ohio State University (OSU), also in Columbus. At OSU, Carter obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1951 and Master of Science degree in 1953. The subject of Carter’s M.Sc. thesis was age and growth of Stonecat Noturus flavus in Lake Erie, a population where individuals of this species attain much larger body size than those found in inland streams. Throughout Carter’s long and productive scientific career, he interacted with and was influenced by many notable educators, professors, fellow students, and various peers. Carter’s thesis adviser at OSU was John W. Price, a Professor of Zoology. While a student at OSU, Carter was also mentored by Thomas H. Langlois and Milton B. Trautman. Langlois taught an ichthyology course that Carter took in the summer of 1952 at Lake Erie’s Put-in-Bay field laboratory. It was there where Carter met and befriended Trautman, author of the classic book The Fishes of Ohio, and whose enthusiasm inspired Carter to consider systematic ichthyology as a career. Following a brief post-graduate position working for the Ohio Department of Conservation, and with encouragement from Trautman, Carter decided to pursue a doctoral degree, and in the fall of 1954 he enrolled at the University of Michigan. Curators at the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology at the time were Reeve M. Bailey and Robert R. Miller. Since Carter was interested in studying freshwater fishes in eastern North America, he selected Bailey as his graduate adviser. Both Bailey and Miller were very influential to Carter during his doctoral research. He also benefited by interacting closely with Karl F. Lagler and John E. Bardach, both associated with the Fisheries Department on the Ann Fig. 1. Carter R. Gilbert, circa 1956.