Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Norris, Kenneth S. (Kenneth Stafford)
- Extent:
- 68.71 Linear Feet (43 half cartons; 18 cartons; 2 5x7" photo boxes; 4 4" slide boxes; 29 flats; 1 roll)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
Kenneth S. Norris papers, UA 66, University Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
These papers document the career of Kenneth S. Norris, covering his research in marine mammal science and desert ecology, his professional activities, and his teaching career at UC Santa Cruz and UC Los Angeles. The collection includes research grants, proposals, data notebooks, and recordings; lecture notes, speech outlines, syllabi, and other teaching materials; field notes from his many research trips; materials from the Natural History Field Quarter class he helped establish at UC Santa Cruz; documents regarding the UC Natural Reserve System; personal and professional correspondence; and publication drafts and unpublished writings. Major topics covered in these papers include the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Field Quarter class at UC Santa Cruz, sand dunes and other desert environment research, conservation of wildlife and the UC Natural Reserve System, echolocation and other dolphin behavior, his work with the Institute of Marine Sciences, and his work in solving the tuna-porpoise problem, which involved dolphins and porpoises being caught with tuna in commercial fishing nets. Forms of materials include correspondence, reports, notebooks, manuscripts, publications, clippings, scrapbooks, audiovisual recordings, speeches, awards, photographic prints, and slides.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Kenneth S. Norris was a renowned naturalist, conservationist, and professor known for his ground-breaking research on dolphins and whales. He was a pioneer in the study of dolphin behavior, particularly in early research on echolocation, and his long career included research and teaching in desert geology, herpetology, and ichthyology, as well as marine mammal science, with positions at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCLA, the Marineland of the Pacific, the Oceanic Institute and Sea Life Park in Hawai'i, and UC Santa Cruz. While working in Santa Cruz, Norris helped establish the Center for Coastal Marine Studies (now the Institute of Marine Sciences) and the Long Marine Laboratory, the University of California Natural Reserve System, the Natural History Field Quarter program, and was involved in the passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. His many published works include Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises (1966), Dolphin Days (1991), and Mountain Time (2010).
Norris was born in Los Angeles, California on August 11, 1924 and graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1942. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Zoology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1948 and 1951, and subsequently did his doctoral research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, where he met his wife Phyllis (Phylly) Norris, with whom he had four children. Norris received his Ph.D. in 1959 and his doctoral work on the Opaleye Perch, an intertidal fish, received the Mercer Award from the Ecological Society of America in 1963.
In 1953, Norris was hired as the founding curator at Marineland of the Pacific, where he began his research on dolphin echolocation. Norris later returned to UCLA to teach biology and herpetology in 1959 and continued his previous research on desert reptiles. From 1968 to 1971, Norris was the research director at the Oceanic Institute in Hawai'i, and divided his time between teaching and research at UCLA and marine mammal research in Hawai'i.
Norris joined the faculty at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1972. He served as the director of UCSC's Center for Coastal Marine Studies (now the Institute of Marine Sciences) and helped establish the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory. Norris later joined the Environmental Studies Department at UCSC as a professor of natural history, and chaired the department from 1977 to 1979. During his time at UCSC, Norris created the Natural History Field Quarter, a course on the natural history of California wherein students gain first-hand experience in different habitats across the state. Norris taught this popular field course from its first offering in 1973 up until his retirement from UCSC in 1990.
Norris has been credited with founding the field of cetacean research and has produced numerous publications, such as Dolphin Days: the Life and Times of the Spinner Dolphin, a book which received the John Burroughs Medal in 1992, and Mountain Time, a book which encapsulates Norris's life work and legacy that was published posthumously in 2010. Norris also had a direct impact on public policy. He was a scientific adviser to the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission and helped draft the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.
One of Norris's most enduring legacies is the UC Natural Reserve System (UCNRS), which he played a key role in founding. In 1963, he presented a system wide plan for the UCNRS to former UC President Clark Kerr. He later chaired the original UCNRS Advisory Committee from 1965 to 1968, and in 1966 he travelled around the state surveying potential sites for the reserves. In 1998, the UCNRS received a $4 million endowment from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, named the Kenneth S. Norris Endowment Fund for the California Environment in Norris's honor. A few months later, Norris passed away on August 16, 1998 in San Francisco, California.
By Danielle Crawford
Chronology Date Event 1924 Born August 11 in Los Angeles, California1942 Graduated from Van Nuys High School1948 Graduated with B.A. in Zoology from UCLA1951 Graduated with M.A. in Zoology from UCLA1953-1960 Served as founding curator at Marineland of the Pacific, Palos Verdes, California1959 Graduated with Ph.D. in Zoology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CaliforniaReturned to UCLA to teach biology and herpetology1961 Accepted a teaching appointment at UCLAPublished a co-authored journal article confirming dolphin echolocation1963 Received the Mercer Award from the Ecological Society of AmericaPresented a system wide plan to UC President Clark Kerr for the University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS)1965-1968 Chaired the original UCNRS Advisory Committee1966 Edited and published Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises1968-1971 Served as research director of the Oceanic Institute, Hawai'i1972 Joined the faculty at UC Santa CruzServed as director of the Center for Coastal Marine Studies at UCSCPassage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act1973-1990 Created and taught the Natural History Field Quarter at UCSC1977 Received the California Academy of Sciences' Fellows Medal1977-1979 Chaired the Environmental Studies Department at UCSC1991 Published Dolphin Days: the Life and Times of the Spinner Dolphin1998 UCNRS received a $4 million endowment from the David and Lucile Packard FoundationPassed away on August 16 in San Francisco, California2010 Mountain Time is published posthumously - Acquisition information:
- Gifts of Phyllis Norris, 2011 and 2016.
- Processing information:
-
This collection guide contains harmful language which was used by either the original creators or the prior stewards of the materials in this collection. Library staff made the decision to retain and repurpose this description because it may provide important context about its creators, custodial history, and/or source. We are committed to describing materials in a manner that respects those who create, are represented in, and interact with the collections we steward, as well as preserving the original context of collection materials. Ethically managing archival description is an ongoing and iterative practice, and we welcome your feedback and questions at speccoll@library.ucsc.edu.
Portions of this collection were processed by Danielle Crawford in the Center for Archival Research and Training (CART) with assistance from Alix Norton, 2016.
Most titles in this collection were derived from the original folder titles as received from the donor. The spelling of Hawaii is maintained from the donor's usage; Hawai'i is utilized in front matter description as a preferred spelling and an access point for searching.
This finding aid was revised in the Reparative Archival Redescription Project. Previous versions of this finding aid are available upon request.
- Arrangement:
-
This collection is arranged in eight series:
- Series 1: Research
- Series 2: Education
- Series 3: Teaching files
- Series 4: Professional activities
- Series 5: Publications and writings
- Series 6: Personal
- Series 7: Subject files
- Series 8: Scrapbooks
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection open for research. Audiovisual media is unavailable until reformatted. Contact Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access to audiovisual media.
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs. Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.
- Preferred citation:
-
Kenneth S. Norris papers, UA 66, University Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
- Location of this collection:
-
Special Collections and Archives, University Library1156 High StreetSanta Cruz, CA 95064, US
- Contact:
- (831) 459-2547