Shellhammer, Howard
Date Updated
5-9-2020
Department
Biological Sciences
Academic Rank
Professor Emeritus
Year Retired from SJSU
1996
Educational Background
U. C. Davis, Zoology, 1961 Ph.D.
U. C. Davis, Zoology, 1957 B.A.
Teaching Experience
SJSU, 1961-2001
Administrative and Professional Experience
Senior Associate at H. T. Harvey and Associates (a firm established by four faculty members in Bio. Sci. in 1970)
Selected Publications
Shellhammer, H. S. and T. H. Shellhammer, 2006. Giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum [Lindl.] Buchholz) seedling survival and growth in the first four decades following managed fires. Madrono, 53(4) 342-350.
Shellhammer, H. S. 1989. Salt Marsh Harvest Mice, Urban Development, and Rising Seas Levels. Conservation Biology, 3(1) 59-65.
Shellhammer, H. S. 1982. Reithrodontomys raviventris. Mammaliam Species, No. 169: 1-3. The American Society of Mammalogists.
Harvey H. T., H.S. Shellhammer and R. E. Stecker. 1980. Giant Sequoias Ecology, Fire and Reproduction. (Monograph). National Park Service, Washington D. C. 182 pp.
Shellhammer, H. S. 1989. Salt Marsh Harvest Mice, Urban Development, and Rising Seas Levels. Conservation Biology, 3(1) 59-65.
Files
Personal Commentary
My academic career was at SJSU. I am an expert on two very different species. One is the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse, a very small rodent endemic to the marshes of the Bay, and the other is the largest plant that has ever existed, i.e. the Giant Sequoia. Four of us at SJSU did ten years of research on the fire ecology of the Big Tree back in the 60's and 70's. I have been a part time consultant for H. T. Harvey since it was established and still do consulting and writing papers on the mouse and the tree. I greatly enjoyed teaching and still miss it.
I have been married twice, the first time for 47 years. I have been married to my second wife for three years and we were a couple for six years before that. We maintain two homes, she in Fremont and I in San Jose; I do most of the commuting. We travel a lot, often with my wife's art teacher. My wife is a plein air watercolor painter and I do some watercolor and pencil work, surprise, mostly botanicals. We have been to Europe and Kauai many times. Between travelling with my first and second wife, I have spent more than a year in Europe and enjoyed every trip. My one son is a Professor of Brewing, yes like in beer, at Oregon State. He and his family recently returned from a 13 month long sabbatical in Berlin. We visited them last October and were blown away by the trees of Berlin, especially in their Autumn color. My son is the more well-known of the two of us. He is a Fulbright and a von Humboldt Scholar. I not only love and appreciate him but also respect and admire him.
I read, bike, hike, occasionally swim, garden, cook, travel, do consulting, write occasional scientific papers and poetry, watch good movies on Netflix with my wife and generally enjoy life fully while I am in generally good shape. Cheers.
Date Completed: November 18, 2009