author
J. Alden (John Alden) Loring
1871–1947
A skilled field naturalist and mammalogist, he spent decades collecting and studying small mammals across North America, Europe, and Africa. His work helped build museum collections and fed the growing public interest in wildlife and exploration in the early 20th century.
1 Audiobook
Young Folks' Nature Field Book
by J. Alden (John Alden) Loring
About the author
Born in 1871, John Alden Loring became known as a careful, tireless collector of mammals at a time when natural history depended heavily on field expeditions. He worked with the U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, the Bronx Zoological Park, and the Smithsonian, building a reputation for detailed work and a special expertise in small mammals.
His career took him across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and later farther afield to Europe and Africa. He is especially remembered as one of the naturalists who joined Theodore Roosevelt's Smithsonian-backed African expedition of 1909–1910, a journey that brought him wider recognition.
Loring also wrote for general readers as well as specialists, including work meant to spark young people's interest in the natural world. He died in 1947, leaving behind a record of scientific fieldwork closely tied to the great museum and exploration culture of his era.