author
James E. Deacon
1934–2015
A pioneering desert-fish biologist and conservation advocate, he helped bring national attention to some of the Southwest’s most fragile aquatic species. His writing grows out of decades of field research, teaching, and public work on behalf of endangered desert ecosystems.
2 Audiobooks
Fishes of the Wakarusa River in Kansas
by James E. Deacon, Artie L. Metcalf
About the author
James E. Deacon was an American biologist, environmental studies professor, and writer whose work focused on desert fishes and conservation in the American West. Sources from the University of Arizona Press and UNLV describe him as a distinguished professor and former chair of Biological Sciences at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he also helped build environmental studies programs. He was born in 1934 and died in 2015.
Much of his published work centered on aquatic ecology, endangered fish species, and the difficult balance between development and environmental protection in arid landscapes. He is especially associated with long-running efforts to study and defend rare desert fish, including the Devils Hole pupfish, and he wrote or edited books and research publications on extinction, fisheries, and western water issues.
Remembered by colleagues as a major figure in desert fish research and conservation, he combined academic work with direct public advocacy. That mix of science, teaching, and persistence gave his books a practical, hard-won authority that still stands out today.