Biography

Photo by Marvin Moore

Louisiana is heaven on earth for biologists, with a sub-tropical climate, extensive cypress swamps, a rich amphibian and reptile fauna, and threatened pitcher plant savannas amidst longleaf pine forests. Southeastern Louisiana University (www.selu.edu) is in the city of Hammond, Tangipahoa Parish, near Lake Pontchartrain, under an hour north of New Orleans, most of this trip being along an elevated highway through a cypress swamp. Dr. Keddy now lives on a dead end road amidst 40 acres of cypress-tupelo swamp, near the northern edge of the Manchac Swamp, east of Ponchatoula, Louisiana. During his time in Louisiana he has been designated a highly cited researcher (ISIHighlyCited.com) and awarded a merit prize by the Society of Wetland Scientists for linking theory and conservation in the field of wetland ecology.

Keddy's first scientific book, Competition (Chapman and Hall, 1989), won the Lawson Medal (awarded by the Canadian Botanical Association) and Gleason Prize (from the New York Botanical Garden). With Dr. Evan Weiher he has since edited Ecological Assembly Rules: Perspectives, Advances, Retreats (Cambridge University Press, 1999). Other books included Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (Cambridge, 2000) and a second edition of Competition (Kluwer, 2001). A practitioner of Buddhist meditation for more than a decade, Dr. Keddy also wrote If I Should Die Before You Wake: Instructions on the Art of Life for his (then) infant sons. It was adapted for the general public in 1997 at the request of Creative Bound in Carp, Ontario. (1-800-287-8610 in North America).

Keddy’s latest books include “The World’s Largest Wetlands” co-edited with Lauchlan Fraser (Cambridge University Press 2005) and a new textbook for plant ecology entitled “Plants and Vegetation: Origins, Processes, Consequences” (Cambridge University Press 2007).   He is currently at work on a guide to the natural environment of Louisiana to encourage ecotourism in the state.

Dr. Keddy's current address is: Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana 70402, USA (pkeddy@selu.edu).