John B. Buck Papers, 1967 - 1970 (SMC 118)

John Bonner Buck (1912-2005) began researching fireflies as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University. He completed his postdoctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology, joined the faculty at Rochester Institute of Technology, and became Head of the Laboratory of Physical Biology at The National Institutes of Health. In 1969 Dr. Buck was Chief Scientist for the R/V Alpha Helix New Guinea Expedition (Program C), studying terrestrial and coastal marine bioluminescence, including synchronous flashing fireflies. The expedition, which gathered an international research group of scientists and suffered several administrative and financial crises, was funded by the National Science Foundation and administered by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.