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Ernest Everett Just (August 14, 1883 – October 27, 1941) was a pioneering black U.S. biologist. Just spent his adult life collecting, classifying, and caring for his marine specimens. He believed that scientists should study whole cells under normal conditions, rather than simply breaking them apart in a laboratory setting. Just's primary legacy is his recognition of the fundamental role of the cell surface in the development of organisms.

Early life

Ernest was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1883 to parents Charles Frazier Just Jr. and Mary Matthews Just. His father and grandfather Charles Sr. were dock builders. When he was four years old, both died. Just’s mother became the sole supporter of him, his younger brother and his younger sister. Mary Matthews Just taught at an African-American school in Charleston to support her family. During the summer, she worked in the phosphate mines on James Island. Noticing that there was much vacant land near the island, Mary persuaded several black families to move there to farm. The town they founded, now incorporated in the West Ashley area of Charleston, was eventually named Maryville in her honor.

Hoping Just would become a teacher, his mother sent him to an all-black boarding school in Orangeburg, South Carolina at the age of thirteen. Because the schools for blacks in the south were inferior, Just and his mother thought it better for him to go north. At age sixteen, Just enrolled at a Meriden, New Hampshire college-preparatory high school, Kimball Union Academy. Despite being the only black student at Kimball, Just completed the four-year program in only three years and graduated in 1903 with the highest grades in his class. His mother had died during his second year at Kimball. He was only seventeen.

Afte graduating Kimball Union Academy, Just went on to attend Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1907, the only student to graduate magna cum laude.] Ernest won special honors in botany, history, and sociology and was designated as a Rufus Choate scholar for two years.

Founding of Omega Psi Phi

On November 17, 1911, Just assisted three Howard students (Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper, and Frank Coleman), in establishing the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. The name Omega Psi Phi was derived from a Greek phrase meaning "friendship is essential to the soul", and became the fraternity's motto. Manhood, scholarship, perseverance, and uplift were adopted as Omega's cardinal principles.

Career

Upon graduation from Dartmouth, Just faced the same problems as all black college graduates of his time: no matter how brilliant they were or how high were their grades, it was almost impossible for blacks to become faculty members of white colleges or universities. Just then took what seemed to be the best choices available to him and was appointed to a teaching position at historically-black Howard University in Washington, D.C.. In 1910, he was put in charge of the newly-formed biology department by Wilbur P. Thirkield. In 1912, he became head of the Department of Zoology, a position he held until his death in 1941. Just was soon introduced to Dr. Frank R. Lillie, head of the biology department at the University of Chicago. Lillie, who was also chief of the Marine Biology Lab at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, invited Just to spend the summer of 1909 as his research assistant at Woods Hole. For the next twenty years, Just spent every summer but one at Woods Hole. On 12 June 1912 Ernest married Ethel Highwarden, who taught German at Howard University. They had three children: Margaret, Highwarden, and Maribel.

In 1915, Just took a leave of absence from Howard to enroll in an advanced academic program at the University of Chicago. That same year, Just, who was gaining a national reputation as an outstanding young scientist, was the first recipient of the NAACP's Spingarn Medal on 12 February 1915. In June 1916, Just received his Ph.D. in experimental embryology, with a thesis on the mechanics of fertilization, from the University of Chicago, becoming one of the handful blacks who had gained this degree from a major university.

During the next several years, Just became an internationally respected biologist. At Woods Hole, he conducted thousands of experiments studying the fertilization of the marine mammal cell. His work on small water creatures was highly respected by biologists in Europe. In 1922, Just successfully refuted Jacque Loeb’s theory of artificial parthenogenesis. His first book, Basic Methods for Experiments on Eggs of Marine Mammals, was based on his Woods Hole research. Just eventually published more than 50 scientific papers over 20 years based on his research at Woods Hole.

Just, however, became increasingly frustrated because he could not attain an appointment to a major American university. He wanted a position that would provide a steady income and allow him to spend more time with his beloved r

What do puffins -- colorful-billed birds looking like miniature penguins -- have to do with the work we do at NASA?

That would be a good question to ask Maria Frostic, an earth science film producer at Goddard. Better yet, catch her documentary, “Plight of the Puffins,” on PBS next week to get the scoop.

On a Fulbright scholarship, Maria took leave from Goddard for July and August 2007 and traveled to the Westman Islands of Iceland to make a documentary on the shrinking population of puffins. Originally, she had planned to produce a film on medieval Icelandic sagas, but her plans changed after hearing the story of the islands’ native bird.

Maria explained, “Upon my arrival in Iceland, I was introduced to a puffin biologist who had just launched a study to understand why Iceland's Atlantic puffin population, which is the largest in the world, is threatened. I learned that the birds' food source has shifted due to climate change, and I thought this would make an interesting film.”

While Maryland and Iceland may be geographically, geologically, and culturally different, Maria felt interconnections between her work in both places. As an Earth Science producer at NASA, all of her projects have involved climate change in some way.

For instance, Maria recently produced new science data visualizations from the Sea-viewing Wide Field of view Sensor (SeaWiFS), a unique instrument that observes global levels of phytoplankton. SeaWiFS gathers data on ocean color from space, which enables researchers to understand the oceans' role in the global carbon cycle, as well as other biogeochemical cycles, through a comprehensive research program. One of the mission’s findings has been evidence that increased sea surface temperatures result in lower amounts of marine phytoplankton.

Most marine life depends on phytoplankton, including the fish that sustain Iceland’s Atlantic puffin population. In the past year, researchers linked the disappearnce of the birds’ missing food source to Earth’s changing climate. Some baby puffins, known as pufflings, are dying of starvation -- their food source, a fish called the sandeel, is now scarce where it used to be abundant.

The people of the Westman Islands have strong ties to puffins as a part of their culture and express concern about the fate of the birds. Once an important food source for survival, the puffin is now a revered mascot, and images of the birds grace signs, buildings, and busses throughout the town of Heimaey.

In late summer, baby puffins must make their first flight to sea. The baby birds are often drawn to the town’s lights, and wind up stranded and disoriented. The children of Heimaey have an annual tradition of catching the vulnerable pufflings and releasing them at the water’s edge. Island adults recall rescuing the birds in droves; in the last three years, puffin reproduction has plummeted, and far fewer birds are venturing out toward sea.

Fascinated by the people and their connection to the puffin, Maria did as the Icelandic people do. She pulled herself up the precarious cliff sides using the old ropes hung by the locals. There she filmed the puffin nesting grounds as unobtrusively as possible, valuing truth in her work.

“I strive to create films that are entertaining and informative but have scientific integrity,” said Maria. “It’s not always easy to balance each of these elements, but I work closely with the scientists I document to ensure that they are comfortable with how I portray them and their work.”

Maria believes that audiences enjoy nature documentaries. The recent unexpected success of the Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth is a big indicator of the kind of programming the general public want to view.

“Planet Earth was wildly popular and proved to the large networks that the public cares about the natural world and stories related to the natural sciences. There is also a large green movement happening around the globe, which coincides with a widened platform for making and distributing documentary film,” said Maria. “It is an exciting time to be involved with making science films.”

There may not be a more fitting person than Maria to make those films. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Maria received Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and English Language and Literature from the University of Virginia. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in Science and Natural History Filmmaking from Montana State University in Bozeman. She has worked as a newspaper reporter; teacher; park ranger; and marine science researcher.

Finding science filmmaking allowed Maria to combine all of her interests and experience. Having always been drawn to nature and science, she is appreciative of the opportunity to close the gap between science and communicators. When the opportunity to do just that arose at Goddard, she thought there would be no better place to communicate science stories than at NASA.

To hear her story on puffins, check your local listings for airtimes