The Rudolf W. Becking Collection documents the professional and political work of Dr. Rudi Becking from the time of his post secondary education in the 1940s and 1950s, through his teaching career in the 1960s-1990s, and his continued work until his death in 2009. Rudi was a professor of Forestry and Natural Resources at Humboldt State University from 1960-1983. He did extensive work in Northwestern California. His research interests included Redwoods, sustainable forestry (Plenturung), plant community ecology (Phytosociology), serpentine endemics, the Marbled Murrelet, timber cruise methodology, and many other topics. He worked in the Great Smoky Mountains in the 1950s-1960s and again in the 1970s. He did additional scholarly work in Indonesia, the USSR and in China. Rudi also participated in political processes in the Northern California region. Highlights include involvement in the establishment and later expansion of Redwood National Park (1960s and 1970s), municipal environmental issues related to the city of Arcata, California and Humboldt Bay in the 1970s and 1980s, revision of the California Forest Practices Act in the 1970s, and many other regional environmental issues.

Biographical sketch, from BEN, Botanical Electronic News

Consult the Finding Aid for more information about the collection.

Article by Adrienne Harling on processing this collection