Camazine, S. 1952–

(Scott Camazine)

PERSONAL: Born August 4, 1952, in Rochester, NY; son of Murray (a builder) and Ruth (a social worker; maiden name, Widelitz) Camazine; married Sue Trainor (a cardiac care nurse); children: Caela. Education: Harvard University, B.A., 1974, M.D., 1978; Cornell University, Ph.D., 1993. Hobbies and other interests: Woodturning.

ADDRESSES: Office—310 West Main St., Boalsburg, PA 16827. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER: University Hospital, University of California, San Diego, CA, intern, 1979–80; St. Joseph's Hospital, Elmira, NY, emergency room physician, 1980–88; Cornell University, Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Ithaca, NY, research associate, 1980–83, 1986–87, visiting fellow in department of entomology, 1983–86; Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, lecturer, 1985; Tompkins Community Hospital, Ithaca, NY, emergency room physician, beginning 1989; Penn State University, Happy Valley, PA, assistant professor of entomology. Medical, science, and nature photographer for clients including the United States Postal Service, Microsoft, Time, Inc., Audubon, Natural History magazine, Life, New York Times Magazine, and Scientific American; lecturer. Consultant to South Korea for United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 1987.

MEMBER: American College of Emergency Physicians, Entomological Society of America, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS: Bache Fund grant, National Academy of Sciences, 1982; British Broadcasting Corporation Wildlife Photography Award, 1987; Children's Science Book Award, New York Academy of Sciences, 1988, for Naturalist's Year; named Kodak Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 1988; John M. Olin Graduate Fellowship, 1989; National Science Foundation Graduate Research fellowship, 1989; Association of American Publishers Award, Professional/Scholarly Publishers Division, 2002.

WRITINGS:

Naturalist's Year (nonfiction), illustrations by stepmother, Cynthia Camazine, John Wiley & Sons (New York, NY), 1988.

Velvet Mites and Silken Webs: The Wonderful Details of Nature in Photographs and Essays (essays and photographs), John Wiley & Sons (New York, NY), 1991.

(With Jean-Louis Deneubourg, Nigel R. Franks, James Sneyd, Guy Theraulaz, and Eric Bonabeau) Self-Organization in Biological Systems (nonfiction), original line drawings by William Ristine and Mary Ellen Didion, StarLogo programming by William Thies, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 2001.

Contributor of articles to scientific journals and nature magazines, including Bee World, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

SIDELIGHTS: After a career that included working as an emergency room physician while earning his Ph.D. in biology from Cornell University, S. Camazine became a professor in entomology at Penn State University. He has also worked as a professional photographer, specializing in nature, and has had a long-standing interest in nature. His 1988 book, Naturalist's Year, is an illustrated guide to the plant, animal, bird, and insect life in common American natural wildlife habitats. He encourages his readers to carry out their own investigations into natural phenomena in chapters discussing such topics as herbal medicines, edible plants and fungi, and bird migration patterns. Camazine hopes his work will help to cultivate increased awareness of and appreciation for the natural environment.

In 2002 he coauthored Self-Organization in Biological Systems, an overview of a budding area of research known as self-organization theory. Focusing primarily on behavior, scientists working in this discipline look at how organisms create patterns and structures that are often complex yet seem spontaneous. Camazine and his collaborators provide an overview of the subject and provides detailed studies of several examples of this behavior in certain organisms such as fish, bees, termites, and ants. Some reviewers, such as Diane Lipscomb in Science Books & Films, criticized several areas lacking in the book, including an exploration of alternative explanations for the animals' behaviors and a discussion of the history of self-evolution. Reviewing Self-Organization in Biological Systems in Science, however, John W. Pepper and Guy Hoelzer noted that the book"presents a unique opportunity to watch a group of active researchers apply these intriguing concepts to formerly mystifying feats of social organization in animals. We know of no better guide."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Science, November 16, 2001, John W. Pepper and Guy Hoelzer, review of Self-Organization in Biological Systems, p. 14666.

Science Books & Films, September/October 2002, Diane Lipscomb, review of Self-Organization in Biological Systems, p. 500.

ONLINE

Penn State Agriculture Magazine Web sitehttp://aginfo.psu.edu/ (winter/spring, 1998), John Wall, "At Play in Fields Filled with Bees," biography of Scott Camazine.

Scott Camazine Home Page, http://www.scottcamazine.com (October 22, 2005).