astronomy

James Elser

James Elser is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand James Elser rather than just read about it. In short: James Elser is an American ecologist and limnologist. He is Director & Bierman Professor of Ecology, Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana and research professor, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University.

Key takeaways

James Elser belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect James Elser to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of James Elser from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

James Elser is an American ecologist and limnologist. He is Director & Bierman Professor of Ecology, Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana and research professor, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University. He is known for his work in ecological stoichiometry. In 2019, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Education Elser earned a B.S. in biology in 1981 from the University of Notre Dame and an M.S. in ecology in 1983 from the University of Tennessee. He earned a Ph.D. in ecology at University of California-Davis in 1990 working with the limnologist Charles R. Goldman, producing a dissertation titled "Nutrients, algae, and grazers: complex interactions in lake ecosystems".

Career Elser was hired as an assistant professor at Arizona State University in 1990, where he advanced to Associate and Full Professor, and was named Regents' Professor in 2009. In 2016 he moved to University of Montana, where he directs the Flathead Lake Biological Station, while remaining a research professor at Arizona State. He served as president of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography from 2014 to 2016.

Research Elser's research focuses on ecological stoichiometry, how the balance of chemical elements affects ecological systems. Particular contributions include global analyses of the nutrient limitation of primary producers, the stoichiometry of nutrient recycling, and the linkage between the phosphorus and RNA content of organisms and their growth rate (the Growth Rate Hypothesis). This work is summarized in the 2002 book Ecological Stoichiometry, co-authored with Robert Sterner. Elser has also co-organized Woodstoich, a series of workshops on ecological stoichiometry for early career researchers. The sustainable use of phosphorus is a recent focus, as Director of the Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance

Awards and distinctions 1990 Raymond L. Lindeman Award, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography 2008 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science 2012 G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography 2013 Foreign member, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters 2019 Member, National Academy of Sciences USA.

References

External links Homepage Google Scholar

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James Elser

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James Elser claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to James Elser before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about James Elser ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of James Elser

In research: James Elser appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses James Elser in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: James Elser is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1959 births, Academics from Portland, Maine, American ecologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James Elser outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study James Elser in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what James Elser means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain James Elser out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is James Elser in simple terms?

Why does James Elser matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study James Elser?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on James Elser.