President 1976-1978
A pioneer in desert fish research and conservation and a professor at the University of Nevada (Las Vegas), Jim Deacon has published widely and continues actively in Council affairs. In addition to many other accomplishments, in recent years he left the Department of Biology and established and served as first Chair of the Department of Environmental Studies at UNLV. His former students have expanded his work as they have entered their professional careers. He guided early research at Devils Hole and was instrumental in legal proceedings that culminated in a favorable decision of the U.S Supreme Court in 1976, providing at least temporary protection for both Devils Hole and its endemic pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis. Jim completed his doctoral work at the University of Kansas. https://www.hcn.org/articles/jim-deacon-pioneering-desert-fish-biologist-dies