Leader: Jon E. Keeley

Contributed by Jon Keeley

Name:  Jon E. Keeley
 
Job (title and organization): Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey and adjunct professor, University of California, Los Angeles.
 
Where do you work (city and country): Three Rivers, California, USA

Degree(s): 
Ph.D. in botany and ecology, University of Georgia, 1977.
Master’s degree in biology, San Diego State University.
B.S. Biology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
 

I am currently a research ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, stationed at Sequoia National Park. Prior to this appointment I served 1 year in Washington, D.C. as director of the ecology program for the National Science Foundation. I was professor of biology at Occidental College for 20 years and spent a sabbatical year at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. I have over 175 publications in national and international scientific journals and books. My research has focused on ecological impacts of wildfires as well as other aspects of plant ecology, including rare plants, rare habitats such as vernal pools, and plant physiology. In 1985 I was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and am a Fellow of the Southern California Academy of Sciences and an Honorary Lifetime Member of the California Botanical Society.

What inspires you in your work?
I am very keenly interested in ensuring resource managers apply the best practices to our landscapes.

What are the highlights of your career accomplishments? 
Highlighting the unique characteristics of the California chaparral fire regime and need for re-examining fire management practices. I also discovered CAM photosynthesis in certain aquatic plants.

Why is the Global Mediterranean Action Network exciting to you?
 It provides a needed mechanism for highlighting the unique characteristics of these mediterranean ecosystems and a platform for better conservation of them.
 
How did your early experiences in nature influence you?
I grew up as a naturalist always hiking the hills in my rural neighborhood. I very early on fell in love with birds and became forever an amateur birder. In College I was intrigued by my first ecological project that involved comparing the vegetation on the north and south sides of a chaparral mountain in San Diego County. The rest is history.

What are your favorite species and/or landscapes?
Arctostaphylos species in California chaparral; but then the unique Isoetes in California vernal pool ecosystems are a close second.
 
Why are you passionate about conservation?
Native ecosystems represent a heritage that once destroyed can seldom be replaced. They provide rich rewards in the secrets they grudgingly reveal to those willing to look hard.

What gives you hope?
The recent global interest in climate change provides a good model for how to engage the public in these issues. Now, if we can only get the public on track with human over-population.

What activities do you enjoy in your spare time?
Playing games: chess, ping pong, softball.
Thinking creatively.
Tasting fine wines.