Men of the Marshes: Paul L. Errington and H. Albert Hochbaum

Abstract

Paul L. Errington (1902-1962) and H. Albert Hochbaum (1911-1988) were pioneering wildlife biologists whose research focused on muskrats and waterfowl, respectively. Their publications, especially their books, stressed the importance of wetlands as wildlife habitats. Errington spent his entire professional career at Iowa State University. Much of it studying muskrat population dynamics in prairie potholes. His work on the predation of muskrats and other species changed how predators were perceived from negative to positive for ecologists, hunters, and the general public. Hochbaum spent his entire professional career as the scientific director of the Delta Water Research Station in Canada. Because of his influential publications and those of the many graduate students at Delta whose research he watched over, Hochbaum built Delta into one of the premier waterfowl research institutions in the world. Errington’s and Hochbaum’s books influenced ecologists and the general public, especially those interested in wildlife conservation. They played a significant role in the development of wetland science by demonstrating the importance of wetlands as wildlife habitats and highlighting the urgent need for wetland conservation. Their advocacy contributed to the gradual shift in North American attitudes toward wetlands from negative to positive.