Henry J. Oosting Memorial Lecture

The Oosting Lecture is an annual presentation by distinguished scholars with an international reputation in the field of Ecology.

The endowed lecture honors the preeminent plant ecologist, Henry J. Oosting, and is presented by the University Program in Ecology, the Nicholas School of the Environment, and the Department of Biology.

Dr. Robert B. Jackson and his lab examine the many ways people affect the Earth. They produce basic scientific knowledge and use it to help shape policies and reduce the environmental footprint of global warming and energy extraction. Currently examining the effects of climate change and drought on old-growth forests, Rob are also works to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the Global Carbon Project.  Rob leads a project establishing an international network of methane tower measurements across the Amazon and Ormore than 100 sites worldwide and others that measure and reduce methane emissions from oil and gas wells, city streets, and homes and buildings.  Jackson’s new book Into the Clear Blue Sky (Scribner) was named a “Top Science Book of 2024” by The Times. As author, poet, and photographer, Rob’s work is published from Highlights for Children, the New York Times, and Washington Post, to Nature and Science.  He is a recent Djerassi artist, Guggenheim Fellow, and Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Geophysical Union, and Ecological Society of America.  Jackson taught at Duke from 1999 to 2013.

Dr. Henry J. Oosting

Henry John Oosting (1903-1968) initiated the renowned program in plant ecology in Duke University’s Botany Department in 1932. During his 36 years on the faculty, 35 students received their PhD degrees under his guidance. Many of his students and their students in turn have gone on to develop successful plant ecology programs around the world.

Oosting’s own research was principally concerned with the structure and distribution of vegetation and with successional dynamics following disturbance of forested lands in North Carolina. He wrote a classic ecology text on the study of plant communities, co-authored a well-used spring flora of the piedmont of North Carolina, and served the Ecological Society of America in many capacities including the presidency. A portion of Duke Forest has been designated as the Henry J. Oosting Natural Area, creating a living memorial to Henry Oosting.

We are forever grateful for his leadership in the establishment of plant ecology as a science and for the exceptional program he and his students developed here at Duke University. We also acknowledge the establishment of this memorial lecture series by Mrs. Cornelia Oosting, and we thank his many friends and students for contributions to its continuation.