Prof. Stephen Carpenter: 1. Learning in the lab and out in the field

1. Learning in the lab and out in the field

Professor Stephen Carpenter was born in 1952 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. His mother was a school teacher and his father was a chemist. He was the eldest of three boys and was raised in an environment surrounded by nature where he spent a lot of time during his childhood. He would visit his paternal grandfather's farm in summers, learn about the land and help with the farmwork; such experiences were a treasure. His maternal grandfather lived in a big city. He loved fishing and hunting, and taught Stephen many skills used in fishing and hunting.

After he grew up, he enrolled in Amherst College to study biology.

Near the Continental Divide, summer 1972

In the summer of 1972, he started his first research project in Glacier National Park in Montana. It was a study on elevation and the distribution of trees. Through this experience, he realized that it would be possible to make a living as a scientist through studying nature. It was a chance for him to consider a future as a scientist.

The biology classes he took at Amherst College sparked his imagination because the biological concepts he learned were related to the scientific knowledge he had gained from his father. Stephen was especially attracted to the systems thinking and the mirror world of mathematical models that it entails. However, he also continued to be aware of what occurs in real life because of his experience in nature and a question his grandfather often asked: "How is this useful?"

His research at college motivated him to continue studying biology at graduate school. He enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied oceanology, terrestrial ecosystems, and applied statistics, expanding his knowledge about lakes and marshes. For his thesis he studied the role of rooted vegetation in the phosphorus cycle of Lake Wingra, and the effect on the gradual filling of the lake basin with sediment. We will explain more about the phosphorus cycle in the Chapter 3 (Excessive nutrients)

His research in graduate school gave him his first exposure to the three fields he would continue to study over the course of his career: lake science, phosphorus cycle, and ecosystems.

He earned a doctorate in 1979, and married Suzan Moths, whom he met at the university. In the same year, he became an assistant professor at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana.

Prof. Carpenter and Susan on a field trip in Wisconsin in 1978

2. Ecological chain