Ecologist and ornithologist Eugene Pleasants Odum is renowned for his views concerning the interrelationship between man and environment, having researched the ecology of birds, wetland ecology, landscape ecology, and vertebrate populations, as well as the general principles of ecology. The author of numerous works, including the widely used textbooks Fundamentals of Ecology and Ecology, Odum was the recipient of the 1987 Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Science for his investigations into ecological issues (the Crafoord Prize is regularly awarded to scientists working in disciplines not addressed by the Nobel Prize). This honor was bestowed jointly upon Eugene P. Odum and his brother, Howard T. Odum, also an ecologist.

A native of Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire, Odum was born September 17, 1913. He received his undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1934, then obtained his doctorate degree in ecology and ornithology from the University...