James Ingold, a longtime professor at Louisiana State University–Shreveport and director of the Museum of Life Sciences there, died on January 25, 2018, after a two-year battle with cancer. He was an Elective Member (1998) of the American Ornithologists' Union (now American Ornithological Society) and a life member of the Wilson Ornithological Society, the Inland Bird Banding Association, and the Association of Field Ornithologists.
James Larry Ingold was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on September 4, 1951, to Lester and Hertha Ingold. His older brother John recalls that one of the first manifestations of Jim's interest in birds was his eagerness to identify the birds that John brought home from his hunting. This interest grew during his high school years at Northwestern High School in Albion, Pennsylvania. Following high school graduation, Jim enrolled at Edinboro State College, earning a B.S. in education in 1973. He then earned an M.S. in zoology in 1977 from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee with a thesis on territorial behavior in the White-breasted Nuthatch. He completed his Ph.D. in 1984 at Miami University of Ohio with a dissertation titled “Systematics and evolution of the cranes (Aves: Gruidae).” He received Miami University's Doctoral Researcher of the Year Award in 1984.
During the next few years, Jim taught at several colleges in Ohio and Pennsylvania (including Oberlin, Dickinson, Miami of Ohio, and Franklin and Marshall) before obtaining a tenure-track position in the Department of Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University–Shreveport in 1990, where he remained until his death. He held the Dr. Richard K. Speairs Endowed Professorship in Field Biology from 2002 to 2006. In 2010, Jim was appointed director of the Museum of Life Sciences and Hubert and Patricia Hervey Endowed Professor at the museum, positions he held until his death.
Jim's ornithological research focused on bird banding in the Caddo Lake area of northeastern Texas and in northwestern Louisiana. He published more than 30 scientific papers, most on birds. Recent papers described his work on philopatry in wintering sparrows in Texas, migration patterns of wintering waterfowl in Louisiana, and carotenoids in the feathers and foods of birds. He was a coauthor on three species accounts in the Birds of North America series: Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Blue Grosbeak.
Jim was an active member of both local and national ornithological organizations. He served as president of the Inland Bird Banding Association (2006–2009) and on the Membership Committee (1990–2007) and Executive Council (1998–2001) of the Wilson Ornithological Society. He was also active in the Bird Study Group in Shreveport and in the Louisiana Ornithological Society (LOS). He was editor of the Journal of Louisiana Ornithology for four years (1998, 2001, 2003, and 2007) and served on the board of the LOS for many years. The LOS awarded him the coveted George H. Lowery Award in 2010. Jim served on the Louisiana Rare Birds Committee for 14 years (2002–2015).
James Ingold was predeceased by his parents and is survived by a brother and four sisters.
