Richard Evan Johnson, 1936–2021

Abstract

With the passing of Richard E. (“Dick”) Johnson on December 8, 2021 at the age of 85, from complications associated with dementia, ornithology lost the foremost authority on the biology of North American rosy-finches (Leucosticte). For aspiring students of alpine bird ecology in the U.S. during the last three decades of the 20th century, potential mentors with the depth of knowledge and experience that Dick possessed could be counted on one hand. Likewise, for anyone wanting feedback on the possibilities of studying birds (or anything else) in the challenging regions above tree line, Dick was a logical choice for an opinion on the feasibility of the project, for there were few alpine areas of the western U.S. he hadn’t visited at least once. Dick was born on November 9, 1936 in Pomona, California, the only child of George Frank Morris Johnson and Mina Baines Johnson. Dick’s camping trips at a very early age with his parents into the mountains of California had a lasting influence on his passion for mountains. He remained in Pomona through high school, where he was active in Boy Scout Troop 1 (attaining the rank of Eagle). He then attended the University of California, Berkeley (B.S. Forestry 1958), Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena (1959–1961), University of Montana (M.S. Zoology 1968), and Berkeley again (Ph.D. Zoology 1972), with Ned K. Johnson as his committee chair. He was hired fresh from Berkeley by Washington State University (WSU) with joint appointments as Director of the Charles R. Conner Museum and Assistant Professor of Zoology, teaching ornithology and mammalogy. At WSU, where he remained until his retirement in 1998, he successfully chaired 12 M.S. and 7 Ph.D. committees and expanded the museum collections by about 33,000 mammals and 9,000 birds. After retirement, he kept his office and laboratory for another 20 years and continued to help at the museum. Dick served in various capacities for the Pacific Northwest Bird and Mammal Society (later the Society for Northwest Vertebrate Biology), including as editor of The Murrelet (now Northwestern Naturalist) (1976–1980). He was named an Elective Member of the American Ornithologists’ Union (AOU) in 1980. Two western states, California and Montana, were central to Dick’s personal and professional development. After completing his forestry degree, and while attending seminary, Dick worked summers during 1958–1961 for the National Park Service as a seasonal ranger-naturalist in Glacier National Park. Dick was encouraged to apply there by Lloyd Parratt, a Professor of Biology at Chaffey College, Alta Loma, California, whom Dick met while in scouts, and who had been a ranger-naturalist in Glacier since 1946. Dick wrote that Lloyd was “important in my history because I may never have gotten to Glacier (or Montana), and therefore never have studied rosy-finches were it not for him!” It was while based in the St. Mary applyparastyle "fig//caption/p[1]" parastyle "FigCapt"