Ecological community mourns Henry Gholz
October 2, 2017
We at Battelle are saddened by the unexpected death of our colleague, Henry Gholz, a visiting scientist assisting with the NEON project and someone who supported our larger science community engagement efforts. During his time with the NEON project, Henry worked to build new collaborations and opportunities and engaged with scientists across the community.
Henry had a long ecological research career, including leadership within the Ameriflux community, the University of Florida, and the National Science Foundation (NSF) where he played a vital role in the Division of Environmental Biology. He obtained his doctoral degree at Oregon State University, working in the university’s forest science group, and had a variety of sabbaticals in the U.S. and abroad. Henry rose in the academic ranks to full professor at the University of Florida during a 20-year period and led a successful career in Forest Ecology that was focused on tree root production and root turnover studies.
Henry was instrumental in establishing a more robust scientific approach to the emerging area of agroforestry in the U.S. and under-developed countries. He served as an international advisor to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), was a program manager for USDA and played a key role in providing leadership and support for the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) “Decade of Synthesis.”
At NSF, Henry managed LTER, Ecosystem Studies, MacroSystems Biology, and other special programs, as well as NCEAS (National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis). Henry was a vital resource as the NSF focused more on environmental sciences, including ecology, and more interdisciplinary approaches and new ways to synthesize existing data. He was at the forefront of these changes and promoted the then new idea of "distributed observatories".
Henry’s influence will continue to guide the ecological community as new data and approaches enable transformative science.
Our condolences to his family and friends.