James Van Remsen Jr.
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James Vanderbeek "Van" Remsen jr (born September 21, 1949 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American ornithologist. His main research field is the neotropical avifauna. In 1999, he founded the South American Classification Committee of which he is also the chairman. In 2013, he was honored with the William Brewster Memorial Award of the American Ornithologists' Union.
Career
At the age of five Van Remsen developed his passion for nature observation and at the age of eleven he was a keen birder. In 1967 he earned his highschool diploma at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In summer 1968 he worked for the Denver Wildlife Research Center. In 1971, he graduated both to Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts in biology at the Stanford University, where among others Harold Mooney, David DeSante, Paul Ehrlich were his advisors. In 1978, he was promoted to PhD in zoology under the direction of Frank Pitelka with his dissertation Geographical ecology of Neotropical Kingfishers. In the same year he became curator of the ornithological collection of the Louisiana State University.
During his undergraduation in 1977 he published the article On taking field notes in the journal American Birds which became much-noticed by field observers and American birders in the following decades.
To start a standardized classification and nomenclature of neotropical avifauna Van Remsen sent a proposal to the American Ornithlogists' Union to create a South American counterpart to the already known AOU Check-list Committee which covered the avifauna of the Western Hemisphere from Panama and north to the Caribbean. In 1999, the proposal for the constitution of the South American Classification Committee (SACC) has been approved and in October 2000 the first classification (on the split of the Huayco tinamou (Rhynchotus maculicollis) from the red-winged tinamou (Rhynchotus rufescens) was available online.
In 1998, he co-described (with Robb Thomas Brumfield) the subspecies Cinnycerthia fulva gravesi of the fulvous wren.
In 2003, he authored the chapter of the family of ovenbirds (Furnariidae) in the eighth volume of the Handbook of the Birds of the World.
In 2005, he was co-author (among others with John W. Fitzpatrick and Tim W. Gallagher) of a much-noticed article in the scientific journal Science where the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) was announced.