Tom Lovejoy ’59 Deep Green: The Life of a Conservation Biologist Millbrook was the first boarding school that Tom Lovejoy visited in the fall of his 8th grade year. He saw the zoo and right then and there knew that Millbrook was where he wanted to be.
When Tom arrived as a III former in 1955, he instantly became entwined with a powerful, passionate, and inspiring teacher in Frank Trevor. He was not prepared for the impact Mr. Trevor would
actually have on him in the classroom, but after only three weeks of school, Tom knew he was going to be a biologist. After Millbrook launched Tom in 1959, he went on to earn his B.S. and Ph.D in biology from Yale. While volunteering in the bird division at the Peabody Museum, Tom connected with Phil Humphrey, a curator of vertebrate zoology at the Smithsonian, and eventually traveled with him to the Amazon in 1965, with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, to begin work on his PhD. That is how Tom got started in the Amazon at a time when there was one road, three million people, and about two other biologists working there.
And so, did I think at the time I was doing my PhD or when I was a student at Millbrook that I’d be doing the kinds of things I’m doing today. Of course not. But I’m so grateful for the background because that’s what put me in a position to make a difference.
• 1989, Tom in the Amazon.
Dr. Lovejoy is now an internationally recognized champion for the conservation of biological diversity—also commonly referred to as biodiversity, a term he is credited with establishing in 1980. Tom’s career has been rooted in public service and is considered a model for scientists interested in translating biological research into environmental conservation. Tom conceived and
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