In Memoriam
Anthony Roger Byrne
Associate Professor of Geography, Emeritus
UC Berkeley
1940-2018
Roger Byrne, emeritus professor in geography, passed away peacefully, surrounded by family, at his home in Berkeley on March 11, 2018. Roger is survived by his children, Todd Byrne, Brendan Byrne, Kevin Byrne, and Angela Sotelo.
Roger was born on August 6, 1940, in Braford, Yorkshire, England. His parents Harry and Marjorie Byrne were both teachers. He was the eldest of six children, with two brothers and three sisters. He developed an early interest in academics and was one of a handful of grammar school students in all of England selected by the Rhodes Educational Trust for a month-long tour of Quebec and Ontario, Canada, in the summer of 1959. Roger went on to the London School of Economics and graduated with honors in 1962 with a B.A. degree in geography. He then set off across the Atlantic Ocean by boat to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Calgary, which he accomplished in 1964 under the guidance of J. G. Nelson. Roger completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin in 1972, studying first under Jonathan Sauer before finishing up under the direction of William Denevan. He held a teaching position at the University of Toronto for several years while working on his dissertation. In 1973 Roger came to the Department of Geography at UC Berkeley, where he spent the following 45 years. He retired in 2016.
Roger’s research and teaching interests spanned broad topics in biogeography and environmental change, including complex human-environment interactions, late Quaternary climate change, and the origins of agriculture. He spent his career exploring these themes, using a set of skills that ranged from palynology (the study of pollen and spores) and geochemistry to vegetation mapping and archival research, at sites in California, the Great Basin, Mexico, Canada, and the Bahamas. His early graduate work at Calgary, “Man and Landscape Change in the Banff National Park Area before 1911,” explored the impacts of changing land use at Banff National Park and laid the foundation for much of his future research. His dissertation was on human impacts on vegetation of Cat Island in the Bahamas. While teaching in Toronto, Roger became interested in palynology through interactions with J. H. McAndrews and their work at Crawford Lake in Ontario led to the discovery of a large prehistoric First Nations settlement. Both of his advisors made a lasting impression on Roger, and it was during this period that he became interested in Latin America. His early introduction to Carl Sauer’s work provided a foundation for his research on human-environmental interactions and sparked a lifelong interest in the origins of agriculture.
Roger was fascinated by the people and landscapes of Mesoamerica. He deeply admired the nineteenth-century polymath Alexander von Humboldt, and, when leading field trips to Mexico, he insisted on staying across the street from von Humboldt's Mexican apartment near the Zocalo in Mexico City. He came to know the regions and histories of many different parts of Mexico over his long career, and developed innovative ideas about the origins of Mesoamerican agriculture. He passed this love for the region down to many of his students during many field seasons.
His research produced dozens of publications and led to collaborations with scientists around the world. Never one to back away from controversy, he was actively involved in many local environmental issues, such as the proposed dredging of Bolinas Lagoon, producing data that often influenced management strategies. On campus he served as an associate curator of the University of California Museum of Paleontology and established the Quaternary Paleoecology Laboratory housing more than 8,000 pollen reference specimens.
Roger was an exceptionally engaged teacher and advisor. He mentored dozens of students and always had time for them, keeping an open-door policy. Nothing pleased him more than discussing science over a cup of coffee or a Friday evening pitcher of beer. A consummate field geographer and a proponent of “learning by doing,” Roger led countless trips to research sites near and far.
His passion for research and his dedication to students will be greatly missed.
Dave Wahl
Tripti Bhattacharya
Mark Blumler
Sally Horn
2018
Roger was born on August 6, 1940, in Braford, Yorkshire, England. His parents Harry and Marjorie Byrne were both teachers. He was the eldest of six children, with two brothers and three sisters. He developed an early interest in academics and was one of a handful of grammar school students in all of England selected by the Rhodes Educational Trust for a month-long tour of Quebec and Ontario, Canada, in the summer of 1959. Roger went on to the London School of Economics and graduated with honors in 1962 with a B.A. degree in geography. He then set off across the Atlantic Ocean by boat to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Calgary, which he accomplished in 1964 under the guidance of J. G. Nelson. Roger completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin in 1972, studying first under Jonathan Sauer before finishing up under the direction of William Denevan. He held a teaching position at the University of Toronto for several years while working on his dissertation. In 1973 Roger came to the Department of Geography at UC Berkeley, where he spent the following 45 years. He retired in 2016.
Roger’s research and teaching interests spanned broad topics in biogeography and environmental change, including complex human-environment interactions, late Quaternary climate change, and the origins of agriculture. He spent his career exploring these themes, using a set of skills that ranged from palynology (the study of pollen and spores) and geochemistry to vegetation mapping and archival research, at sites in California, the Great Basin, Mexico, Canada, and the Bahamas. His early graduate work at Calgary, “Man and Landscape Change in the Banff National Park Area before 1911,” explored the impacts of changing land use at Banff National Park and laid the foundation for much of his future research. His dissertation was on human impacts on vegetation of Cat Island in the Bahamas. While teaching in Toronto, Roger became interested in palynology through interactions with J. H. McAndrews and their work at Crawford Lake in Ontario led to the discovery of a large prehistoric First Nations settlement. Both of his advisors made a lasting impression on Roger, and it was during this period that he became interested in Latin America. His early introduction to Carl Sauer’s work provided a foundation for his research on human-environmental interactions and sparked a lifelong interest in the origins of agriculture.
Roger was fascinated by the people and landscapes of Mesoamerica. He deeply admired the nineteenth-century polymath Alexander von Humboldt, and, when leading field trips to Mexico, he insisted on staying across the street from von Humboldt's Mexican apartment near the Zocalo in Mexico City. He came to know the regions and histories of many different parts of Mexico over his long career, and developed innovative ideas about the origins of Mesoamerican agriculture. He passed this love for the region down to many of his students during many field seasons.
His research produced dozens of publications and led to collaborations with scientists around the world. Never one to back away from controversy, he was actively involved in many local environmental issues, such as the proposed dredging of Bolinas Lagoon, producing data that often influenced management strategies. On campus he served as an associate curator of the University of California Museum of Paleontology and established the Quaternary Paleoecology Laboratory housing more than 8,000 pollen reference specimens.
Roger was an exceptionally engaged teacher and advisor. He mentored dozens of students and always had time for them, keeping an open-door policy. Nothing pleased him more than discussing science over a cup of coffee or a Friday evening pitcher of beer. A consummate field geographer and a proponent of “learning by doing,” Roger led countless trips to research sites near and far.
His passion for research and his dedication to students will be greatly missed.
Dave Wahl
Tripti Bhattacharya
Mark Blumler
Sally Horn
2018
