Thomas Lovejoy, biologist who championed biodiversity, dies

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A leading conservation biologist who is credited with popularizing the term “biological diversity” has died. Thomas Lovejoy was 80. His death on Saturday was announced by George Mason University, where he was a professor, and the Amazon Biodiversity Center, which he founded. Lovejoy first wrote about biological diversity in two papers in 1980, referring to the rich variety of life on Earth. The phrase was later shortened to biodiversity. Lovejoy also was involved in the founding of U.S. public television’s “Nature.” At the time of the show’s inception in 1982, he was working for the World Wildlife Fund.