Dr. Don Gardner Despain is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 botanist, plant ecologist and fire behavior specialist, who specialized in the flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

 of Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...

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Biography

Despain was born in 1940 in Lovell, Wyoming

Lovell, Wyoming

Lovell is a town in Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 2,281 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lovell is located at ....

, the oldest of five children to Daniel Gordon Despain and Lillian Gardner. He attended Lovell High School

Lovell High School

Lovell High School is a public high school in Lovell, Wyoming, United States. The campus serves students in grades nine through twelve and is part of Big Horn County School District #2. Their mascot is the Bulldog. In September 2009 they moved down to the 2A size classification.-External links:**...

 and then studied at the University of Wyoming

University of Wyoming

The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...

, receiving a B.S. in Botany in 1966. He did graduate work at the University of Arizona

University of Arizona

The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...

, receiving an M.S. in plant ecology in 1967, and then a PhD in Plant Ecology from the University of Alberta

University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...

 in Edmonton, Canada in 1971.

In the mid 1980s, he was the President of the Wyoming Native Plant Society, and Vice-president for the Biological Section at the Montana Academy of Science. From 1998-1999, he was vice-president of the scientific research society Sigma Xi

Sigma Xi

Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society is a non-profit honor society which was founded in 1886 at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a handful of graduate students. Members elect others on the basis of their research achievements or potential...

 from 1998–1999, and President from 1999-2001.

From 1971-2006, he was a research biologist

Biologist

A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...

 with the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

 in Yellowstone National Park, and was instrumental in generating the fire management plans in use by the park since 1972. He generated a vegetation map of the park and did extensive research in fire behavior, fire effects and landscape factors in fire spread. He also worked as an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, testing the utility of remote sensing systems for vegetation and fuels appraisal.

Despain retired in 2006, although he is still active in scientific research. He presently lives in Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman, Montana

Bozeman is a city in and the county seat of Gallatin County, Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The 2010 census put Bozeman's population at 37,280 making it the fourth largest city in the state. It is the principal city of the Bozeman micropolitan area, which consists...

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As D.G. Despain

• Field key to the flora of Yellowstone National Park, WY. 1975, Yellowstone National Park: Yellowstone Library and Museum Association.
• Fire as an ecological force in Yellowstone ecosystems (Information paper / Yellowstone National Park)
• Yellowstone vegetation: consequences of environment and history in a natural setting, 1990. Boulder, CO: Roberts Rinehart, Inc.
• Plants and their environments: Proceedings of the first biennial scientific conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, 1994. Denver, CO: National Park Service.

With co-authors

• Mayo, J. M.; Hartgerink, A. P.; Despain, D. G.; Thompson, R. G.; van den Zinderen Bakker, E. M. Jr.; Nelson, S. D. 1977. Gas exchange studies of Carex and Dryas, Truelove Lowland, Devon Island. InIn: Bliss, L. C. Truelove Lowland, Devon Island, Canada: a High Arctic Ecosystem. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: University of Alberta Press; p265-280.

• Despain, D. G.; Houston, D.; Meagher, M.; Schullery, P. 1986. Wildlife in transition, man and nature on Yellowstone's northern range. Boulder, CO: Roberts Rinehart, Inc.

• Despain, D.; Greenlee, J.; J. Parminter, T.; Sholly T. 1994. A bibliography and directory of the Yellowstone Fires of 1988. Fairfield, Wash: International Association of Wildland Fire.