This collection documents the professional work of University of California, Berkeley forestry and environmental studies professor, and soil specialist, Paul J. Zinke. The collection includes correspondence; biographical materials; University of California, Berkeley administrative materials; writings and professional papers; project files; research data; and course materials.

Paul J. Zinke was born in Los Angeles, California, on November 10, 1920. He studied forestry and soil science at the University of California, Berkeley, receiving his BS in 1942. Zinke joined the U.S. Forest Service in 1947 and was assigned to the California Soil Vegetation Survey. He married Mardell Butler that same year. Zinke received his Ph.D. in soil science at Berkeley in 1956, and he joined the faculty at the School of Forestry in 1957. Zinke was a popular teacher; his survey course on forestry and conservation regularly enrolled 400 to 500 students in the 1970s, and he regularly taught at forestry field schools. In addition to teaching, Zinke studied and mapped soil-vegetation types in California, the American West, Greece, Italy, the Amazon Basin in Brazil, and northern Thailand. He also did groundbreaking work on carbon sequestration in soils, and his interest in redwood forests led him to measure most of Northern California’s tallest trees. Zinke wrote over 100 research and professional papers, served as a forestry consultant, and helped produce data sets that were widely used by land managers and environmental scientists. Zinke retired in 1992 but remained active in his field. He died on August 18, 2006 in Oakland, California.

20 Linear Feet (16 cartons)

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Collection is open for research.