James E. Church

Summary

James Edward Church, Jr. (February 15, 1869 – August 5, 1959) is best known for having developed the Mount Rose snow sampler (1906), the first instrument for measuring snow water content. It is still in use today.[1] He was also active in promoting the then nascent sciences of snow hydrology and water supply forecasting.[2]

Church, who received his Ph.D. from the University of Munich, was born in Holly, Michigan on February 15, 1869. As a Classics professor he taught Latin, German, and fine arts at the University of Nevada, Reno from 1892 to 1939[3] and was the first person of European descent to ascend Mount Rose (1896).[4] Church died in Reno, Nevada, on August 5, 1959. The Church Fine Arts Complex on the University of Nevada, Reno campus—which opened in 1962, three years after his death—is named after him.[5]

References edit

  1. ^ Snow Survey Centennial | Nevada NRCS
  2. ^ "Western Snow Conference: Honorarium" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 10, 2012.
  3. ^ Dr. James E. Church - slide 19
  4. ^ "Snow surveying with Dr. Church". Archived from the original on 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
  5. ^ "Church Fine Arts | Campus Tour | University of Nevada, Reno". Archived from the original on 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2008-10-24.

External links edit

  • A Guide to the Papers of James Edward Church NC96, Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno. (includes biographies of Church and of his wife, Florence)
  • A Guide to the Papers of James Edward Church AC 0248, University Archive, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.
  • The history of Church: how NRCS’ snow survey program got started Archived 2018-02-02 at the Wayback Machine, Natural Resources Conservation Service Vermont.