By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mr. Pickering

MARIEMONT - As a pioneer in aquatic biology, Quentin H. Pickering spent his career helping protect the quality of the country's water.

A research aquatic toxicologist for the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency for 35 years, he wrote more than 40 papers and co-wrote a chapter in Silent Spring Revisited, published in 1987.

The book continues Rachel Carson's discussion of the dangers of pesticides in Silent Spring, addressing government regulations and ecosystem stability.

For his contributions, Mr. Pickering received the Engineers and Scientists of Greater Cincinnati Professional Accomplishment Award in government and science in 1998.

Mr. Pickering died Saturday at Madeira Health Care Center. The long-time Mariemont resident was 83.

His love of nature dated to his boyhood in rural Eldorado, Ill. Hunting and fishing - lifelong pursuits - instilled an appreciation of animals.

Mr. Pickering became the first in his family to attend college when he went to Urbana to study zoology at the University of Illinois. He earned both bachelor's and master's degrees and was accepted to the Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

His education was interrupted when Mr. Pickering enlisted in the Army in 1942. He served as a medic in Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines and Japan during World War II.

While studying fisheries in Ann Arbor, he met Jacqueline Clifton on a blind date. Not long after their wedding, Mr. Pickering began working for the Department of the Interior in Newtown.

Mr. Pickering remained active after retiring in 1990. He served on the Village Recycling Committee, was an officer for the Mariemont Tennis Association and was a judge for the Engineers and Scientists of Cincinnati's annual science fair.

In addition to his wife, Jacqueline Clifton Pickering, survivors include: two sons, Brian of Oakley and Bruce of Indianapolis; two daughters, Janice Clifton Pickering of New Paltz, N.Y., and Karen Pickering Starrett of Portland, Ore.; a sister, Norma Jean Armstrong of Eldorado, Ill., and nine grandchildren.

Services have been held. Memorials: Nature Conservancy, Ohio Chapter, 6375 Riverside Drive, Suite 50, Dublin, OH 43017; or Cincinnati Nature Center, 4949 Tealtown Road, Milford, OH 45150.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com