American biologist (1887-1977) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Waldo LaSalle Schmitt (June 25, 1887 – August 5, 1977) was an American biologist born in Washington, D.C. He received his Ph.D. from George Washington University in 1922. In 1948, he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Southern California. Schmitt's primary field of zoological investigation was carcinology, with special emphasis on the decapodcrustaceans (crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and so on). His bibliography consists of more than seventy titles.[2]
This article is in list format but may read better as prose. (May 2013)
1924–1925, was at the Carnegie Institution's Marine Laboratory at Dry Tortugas, Florida, surveying the crustacean fauna of the area, identifying crustaceans found in the stomachs of fishes.
1925, awarded the Smithsonian's Walter Rathbone Bacon Traveling Scholarship "for the study of the fauna of countries other than the United States." The scholarship enabled him to collect marine invertebrates along the east coast of South America.
1941–1942, on special detail with the United States Navy investigating the possibility of establishing a biological station in the Galapagos Islands.
1943, visited South America, under the auspices of the State Department, for the purpose of strengthening relations between United States and Latin American scientists.
1955, headed the Smithsonian–Bredin Belgian Congo Expedition.
1956–1960 led Bredin-sponsored expeditions to the Caribbean (1956, 1958, 1959), the Society Islands (1957), and the Yucatan (1960).
1961–1962 Sponsored by a grant from the Office of Naval Research, Schmitt spent the summers with Harry Pederson photographing the coral reef fauna of the Bahamas Islands.
1962–1963, his last expedition - member of the Survey of the United States Antarctic Research Program, the Staten Island cruise to Marguerite Bay and Weddell Sea.
Lobster lunch aboard the research vessel Mureva, with dancers from Bora Bora. Photo from Schmitt's Smithsonian-Bredin Expedition, 1956.
Founding member of the Society of Systematic Zoology and served as president in 1948.
President of the Washington Academy of Sciences in 1947.
Trustee of the Bear's Bluff Laboratories,
Trustee of the International Oceanographic Foundation
Waldo's Wilds, a park in Takoma Park bears his name.[3] On this property was Schmitt's house. He donated it to the City of Takoma Park who did not have the money to maintain it so they gave it to the county. The house was demolished about 1990. The land had wonderful plants and shrubs he had collected from around the world as well as one of the largest trees in the county on it. 38.9699°N 77.0045°W / 38.9699; -77.0045 (Waldo's Wilds)[4]
Richard E. Blackwelder (1979). The Zest for Life, or Waldo Had a Pretty Good Run: The Life of Waldo LaSalle Schmitt. Lawrence, Kansas: The Allen Press, Inc.
John Sherwood (1977-01-11). "Uncle Waldo Still Hears the Call of Crustaceans". The Washington Star.