Alumni in Memoriam: Sherwood Idso

Sherwood Burtrum Idso passed away peacefully at his home on June 12, 2024, his 82nd birthday. 

Sherwood was born on June 12, 1942, in Thief River Falls, Minnesota to Gladys Elenora Ekeberg and Sherman Theodore Idso. Sherwood loved to learn and demonstrated a life-long pursuit of both acquiring and sharing knowledge and wisdom. As a youth he attended Knox Elementary (grades K-6) and Lincoln High School (grades 7-12) in Thief River Falls, MN, graduating as valedictorian of his High School class in 1960. Thereafter, he continued his educational pursuits at the University of Minnesota, receiving a Bachelor of Physics degree with distinction in 1964. Thanks in part to a Title IV National Defense Education Act Fellowship he received, Sherwood attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota, obtaining a master’s degree in Soil Science (with a minor in Physics) in 1966 and a Ph.D. in Soil Science (with a minor in Meteorology and Mechanical Engineering) in 1967, specializing in the photosynthetic response of plants to their environment.

Sherwood spent the next 34 years (1967-2001) working as a Research Physicist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, where he was employed in the Environmental and Plant Dynamics Research Unit at the U.S. Water Conservation Laboratory in Phoenix, Arizona. During his career he also maintained a close association with Arizona State University, serving as an adjunct professor in the departments of Geology, Geography, Botany, and Microbiology. Following his retirement from government work, Sherwood entered the non-profit sector and served as president of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, where he continued his seminal scientific pursuit of investigating the impacts of carbon dioxide on the biosphere. Throughout his career, he authored or co-authored over 500 scientific publications, including several books and book chapters, and he was an invited reviewer of manuscripts for 56 different scientific journals and 17 different funding agencies, representing an unusually large array of disciplines. 

As a scientist, Sherwood is perhaps best known as a leader in the field of plant responses to CO2 enrichment. In particular, he led a 17-year study examining the long-term impacts of continuous CO2 enrichment on sour orange trees. That experiment, which was the longest of its type ever to be conducted in the world, provided valuable insights into the effects of long-term atmospheric CO₂ enrichment on plant productivity and growth. 

Notable awards received by Sherwood during his lifetime include: (1) Arthur S. Flemming Award (1977) in recognition of his “innovative research into fundamental aspects of agricultural-climatological inter-relationships affecting food production and the identification of achievable research goals whose attainment could significantly aid in assessment and improvement of world food supplies”; (2) Petr Beckmann Award (2003) for “courage and achievement in defense of scientific truth and freedom”; and (3) Frederick Seitz Memorial Award (2014) for “courageously and tirelessly opposing efforts to demonize carbon dioxide and man’s role in climate.”

Notwithstanding his academic and professional success, the greatest focus of Sherwood’s life was his family and his relationship with others. On August 23, 1963, he married the love of his life, Carolyn Marie Wakefield, in the Logan Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Together with his wife Carolyn, their legacy of descendants includes 7 children, 16 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren—with more on the way! 

Sherwood is survived by his wife Carolyn, sons Grant (Catherine), Keith (Stacie), Craig (Ann), and Lance (Nianfei), daughters Jennifer (Bret) and Julene, and sister Shari (Brad) Storbakken. He was preceded in death by his son Wayne, brother Sheldon (Becky), stepmother Elaine, and parents Sherman and Gladys.