Charles Macnamara: Arnprior’s Citizen Scientist

Practice flashcards covering the life, scientific contributions, and specific observations of Charles Macnamara as documented in his lecture notes.

Charles Macnamara

A prolific writer, photographer, and field naturalist known as Arnprior’s Citizen Scientist who meticulously documented the natural world from the late 19th to mid-20th century.

Entomologist

A scientist who studies insects; Charles Macnamara described himself as this and took correspondence courses to further his expertise.

Marshall's Bay

The location in Ontario where Charles Macnamara spent 14 years researching a beaver colony and maintained a cabin.

Nopiming Game Preserve

A wildlife habitat established in 1920 by Charles Macnamara, David M. Finnie, Thomas Elliott, and Dan McLachlin to prevent habitat destruction.

Richard Macnamara

Charles Macnamara's father who served as the Secretary Treasurer for McLachlin Bros. from 1881 to 1933.

Mill No. 1

A water powered mill built by Daniel McLachlin in 1866 in Arnprior, photographed by Macnamara in a panoramic view in December 1894.

George and Andrew Buchanan

Individuals who established a grist mill and saw mill in Arnprior around 1833 before the property was later bought by Daniel McLachlin.

Ligouri Gormley

An individual who, along with Charles Macnamara, conducted an annual Christmas Bird Census between Braeside and Marshall's Bay for 13 consecutive years as of 1925.

Icarette camera

The specific camera Charles Macnamara used to take his Christmas Day self-portrait in 1925.

Personals & Sundries

The name of Macnamara's scrapbook where he recorded observations, including the specific impacts of the 1939 ice storm on different tree species.

Gamma and red "A" screens

Technical tools Charles Macnamara experimented with in photography to provide the necessary contrast for capturing frost on window panes.

"Seaweed" and "palm leaf"

Two distinct frost patterns Macnamara documented on his back window; he noted the palm leaf produced as temperatures fell from $32^\circ F$.

Ice storm of 19 December 1939

A significant weather event that coated trees with ice and snow from Campbell's Bay to Montreal, which Macnamara documented observing that poplars were hardest hit while conifers recovered quickly.

Black river country

The area where Macnamara tracked a wolf pack and used his observations to debunk fabrications about wolves attacking humans in America.