George J. Wallace

From Great Lakes Wiki

George J. Wallace(1907-1986) was a respected professor of ornithology at Michigan State University in the 1950s who contributed to the ecological study of pesticides. He focused especially on the effects of insecticides on bird populations after witnessing mass die-offs of certain birds on the campus of Michigan State University.

Early Life

One of seven children, Wallace was born in 1907 in Waterbury, Vt., and developed his first interest in birds soon after World War I. He grew up on a farm, where five generations of Wallaces had lived, and attended a one-room country school. Leaving home at age 21 in 1928, he entered the University of Michigan, where he received his A.B., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees. Wallace's first position was as a biologist with the Vermont Fish and Game Service. After only 9 months he took a job as warden of the Pleasant Valley Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary. A brief tenure as a game ecologist with the Michigan Department of Conservation followed, before a job as instructor at Michigan State University (Michigan State College until 1955)became available.

DDT and the birds of MSU

He first taught an introductory course in ornithology and then developed a three-quarter course for advanced undergraduates and graduate students that was very popular. In the spring of 1955, Wallace first noticed a troubling sign among birds on campus. While walking on the North Campus of MSU, he noticed that robins were dying. In a summary called the “History of dead and dying robins” at MSU, he reported the following.

"Tremoring robin (female) from near Phillips Hall brought to office by students at 4 p.m. … Died a few hours later.""Sick robin at Administration building.""Tremoring robin picked up near President’s house at 9 a.m. Died in my office at about 10 a.m."

In the January-February 1959 issue of Audubon Magazine, he wrote, “We first noticed robins dying in the spring of 1955 ... The die-off of robins continued each spring, on a scale sufficient to attract the unsolicited attention of the staff and students at Michigan State University, until by the summer of 1958, the elimination of robins from the main campus and some parts of East Lansing was virtually complete.”

Professor Wallace's reports were some of the first to link the detrimental effects of DDT with bird populations. At first many believed that any area that had been sprayed with DDT would be hazardous to birds, but Wallace's research helped describe the process by which the birds became sick. Earthworms were eating leaves from DDT-sprayed areas, which the birds then ate. This is an example of Biomagnification, where pollutants make their way up the food chain and take a much heavier toll on the larger animals.

"The robins were dying of insecticidal poisoning; they invariably exhibited the well-known symptoms of loss of balance, followed by tremors, convulsions and death," Wallace wrote.

He warned that DDT could create 'death traps' that would kill many more than the original population as new birds migrated to the unclaimed territories. His research showed that nearly all robins entering the areas around campus after the original population had died out would be poisoned and die as well.

Wallace spoke in front of a congressional committee on Fisheries and Wildlife in May, 1960, to present his research and its implications.After his testimony, an official from the Michigan Department of Agriculture attepted to have Wallace's Dean discipline him for 'irresponsibility.'

Although robins were affected most visibly, other small birds in the area also had population declines. Wallace’s findings were cited in detail in “Silent Spring,” the landmark book by Rachel Carson that was published in 1962. It is hard to overstate the significance of this book: It is widely credited with launching the birth of both American and international environmental movements in the 1960s.

"Throughout the pesticide debate, many female anti-pesticide activists formed alliances with mostly male scientific experts. The postwar world of science was not yet friendly to women, and comparatively few of them had access to scientific research and ideas. see Hazlett, "The Story of Silent Spring," ch. 3. Bridging this significant gap, George Wallace, professor of zoology at Michigan Slate, joined with Audubon members in Michigan to fight against DDT. (Carson also depended on Wallace's research for much of her chapter, "And No Birds Sing.") Wallace worked closely with female Audubon activists in his area, women who called upon his expertise to help stop local spraying campaigns. These early networks probably helped lay the foundation for the Environmental Defense Fund's first victories against DDT in Michigan: Wallace and Bernard, "Tests Show," 198. Wallace also put Michigan anti-pesticide activists-most of them women-in touch with Rachel Carson, who then connected them to other activists across the country." - Woman vs. Man vs. Bug Hazlett, Maril

Though rarely recognized in conjunction with "Silent Spring", Wallace provided some of the most important data used in Carson's book. In a May 1971 interview by MSU News, he talked about Carson and his work with her.

She was "very thorough," Wallace recalls. "There had been scientific papers pointing out many of the same things, but it took her book to get the idea across."

Reference

Much of this pages information originates from an EJ Magazine editorial by Jim Detjen. Read Breaking the 'Silence' for more.