Crawford Stanley Holling

Crawford Stanley “Buzz” Holling O.C., F.R.S.C., B.A. & M.Sc., PH.D. Son of Stanley Arnold Holling and Claudia Ann Holling (nee Guichard) and step-son of Maebelle Beatrice Holling (nee Patton). Beloved and devoted husband of Ilse (nee Artner). Dear father of Jamie, Nancy and Chris and father-in-law of Erica, Charity and Grace. Proud grandfather of Luke, Sam, Asher and Evan. Adored brother of Rosalie, brother-in-law of Norbert and uncle to several nieces and nephews. He will be sadly missed by many dear friends and colleagues around the world. He was given his nickname “Buzz” by his sister Rosalie and it was his preferred name that most people used for him although his parents tended to use “Crawf” more often.

Buzz, Emeritus Eminent Scholar at the University of Florida, obtained his B.A. and M.Sc. degrees in Zoology from the University of Toronto in 1952 and his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia in 1957. He was born to Canadian parents in Theresa, NY and raised in New Liskeard, ON and Toronto, ON. He described his childhood as being full of great joy found in the lakes, forests, meadows and streams where nature surprised in the movements of animals big and small. He loved showing his kids and grandkids the amazing world of life in ponds and tidal pools. He gained his initial international recognition for his work in forest entomology at the Canadian Department of Forestry in Sault Ste. Marie and Victoria (with short stints in-between in Berkeley and Honolulu). He moved to UBC in 1967 to become professor of zoology and subsequently director at the Institute of Resource Ecology. Addressing a variety of resource management problems using a workshop technique, he and his colleagues developed a worldwide reputation for incisive and perceptive analysis and their advocacy of "adaptive management policies." He spent a memorable year 1973-74 at the Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria where he subsequently served as director 1981-84. He then continued his career as the first Eminent Scholar, Arthur R. Marshall Jr. Chair in Ecological Sciences in the Department of Zoology at the University of Florida where he retired in 1999.

His work is frequently cited in the fields of ecology, environmental management, ecological economics and the human dimensions of global change. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a foreign Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his pioneering contributions to the field of ecology, notably for his work on ecosystem dynamics, resilience theory and ecological economics". He received numerous awards, including the Anne Shephard Memorial Gold Medal in Biology, the Entomological Society of Canada Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Canadian Entomology, the Kenneth Boulding Memorial Prize, the Volvo Environment Prize and the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art. He also received two major awards from the Ecological Society of America: The Mercer Award and the Eminent Ecologist Award for "outstanding contributions to the science of Ecology". He received Honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the University of Guelph, UBC, Simon Fraser University and Vancouver Island University.

A professional tribute to Buzz with more information about his career can be found at the following link: https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-news/2019-08-23-pioneering-the-science-of-surprise-.html

A Celebration of Life will be held later at the Unitarian Fellowship in Nanaimo.