A Birder's Guide to Alaska (ABA Birdfinding Guide)
George C. West'sinterest in birds was sparked by a 4th grade teacher and has continued for a life-time. Drawing and painting birds for over 60 years, he has illustrated many newsletters, magazines, and books, and contributed illustrations to many non-profit ecological and ornithological agencies. His Ph.D. research at the University of Illinois on migratory American Tree Sparrows that summered in Churchill, Manitoba gave him his first taste of the subarctic. After a year as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Research Council of Canada studying temperature regulation of boreal birds, he taught ecology and ornithology at the University of Rhode Island. In 1963 he helped form the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and spent the next 21 years conducting field and laboratory research on arctic and subarctic birds, mammals, and plants, and training graduate students. After serving as Acting Dean of the College of Biological Sciences and director of the Institute, he ended his academic career as Vice President for Academic Affairs of the University of Alaska Statewide System before retiring in 1984 as Professor of Zoophysiology, Emeritus. He has published over 120 scientific articles and books.