Mr Charles William Beebe (29 July 1877–4 June 1962)

American naturalist. Beebe had a particular interest in ornithology and deep sea exploration. Born in Brooklyn, he was curator of ornithology for the New York Zoological Society from 1899 to 1952. In 1919 he was also made Director of the Department of Tropical Research. He wrote many popular books of his expeditions and was a regular contributor to the National Geographic Magazine. His work A Monograph of the Pheasants published in four volumes (1918-1922) remains the classic reference on the subject. The money from the sale of his writing helped finance his later expeditions. His interest in deep-sea exploration led to the development of the bathysphere, a spherical metal diving vessel. In 1934 he made a record descent of 923m (3,028 ft.) With Otis Barton off Nonsuch Island in Bermuda in 1934. He was awarded honorary doctorates from Tuft and Colgate Universities in recognition of his expedition research. In 1950 he bought 228 acres (92 hectares) of land in the Arima Valley (Trinidad and Tobago) which he named "Simla". This land became the New York Zoological Society's Tropical Research Station in Trinidad.