George A. Bartholomew's Contributions to Integrative and Comparative Biology

The Bartholomew Award has now completed a decade of recognizingoutstanding young investigators in comparative physiology andbiochemistry or in related fields of functional and integrativebiology. It honors Professor George A. Bartholomew (Bart tohis many students and other friends), whose research contributionscontinue to be important in shaping these fields. Bart's influencereflects a steadfast adherence to a set of basic precepts: theinherent unity of biology; the need for an evolutionary perspectivein functional studies; the value of modern natural history inguiding research investigations; the focus on the organism andits function in nature, even in highly reductionist studies;the importance of biological variability within and betweenspecies; and the crucial interactions of physiology and behaviorin allowing animals to deal with environmental challenges. Werehe to have done nothing else in his career, he would remainan important figure in the fields with which the Society ofIntegrative and Comparative Biology's (SICB) Division of ComparativePhysiology and Biochemistry is concerned. However, his influenceis also felt through his inspirational performance as an undergraduateteacher, his skill and wisdom as a graduate mentor, his manyservices to the University of California, his insightful contributionsto scientific committees and policy boards at the national level,and his presidency of the American Society of Zoologists (nowSICB). This symposium offers the opportunity for honoring Bartfor all his accomplishments and fine personal qualities, whileillustrating the contributions of the impressive set of youngerinvestigators who are recipients of the George A. BartholomewAward.