Robert Ricklefs Explained
Robert Eric Ricklefs (born June 6, 1943) is an American ornithologist and ecologist. He was the Curators' Professor of Biology at the University of Missouri, St. Louis from 1996 until August 2019.
Education
Born in 1943, he grew up near Monterey, California, where his interest in biology was fostered by a teacher.[1] He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Stanford University in 1963 and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967. His doctoral advisor was originally Robert H. MacArthur (prior to his move to Princeton University), but he finished his dissertation under W. John Smith.[2] During his PhD, he studied avian growth and development, which he continued for much of his career. He completed a year as a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama before taking up a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania. He was the 1982 recipient of the American Ornithologists' Union's William Brewster Memorial Award, the union's most prestigious award given annually for an exceptional body of work on birds of the Western Hemisphere.[3] In 2003, he received the Pacific Seabird Group's Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on growth and development in seabirds.[4] He was awarded the 2003 Margaret Morse Nice Medal by the Wilson Ornithological Society.[5] He was the 2006 recipient of the Cooper Ornithological Society’s Loye and Alden Miller Research Award, which is given in recognition of lifetime achievement in ornithological research.[6]
Research
During his career, he has made major contributions to the island biogeography, including testing E. O. Wilson's Taxon Cycle Concept,[7] His most-cited scientific paper examined ecological communities.[8] Recent work has sought to rescale the concept of an ecological community.[9] He has made major contributions to life-history theory of birds, avian growth and development,[10] [11] [12] [13] tropical ecology, and avian disease research. His original method for avian growth rate estimation continues to be used today though modifications have been proposed. His textbook Ecology, first published in 1973, continues to be updated and used in university courses.[14] He has also published The Economy of Nature[15] , Avian Growth and Development: Evolution Within the Altricial-precocial Spectrum[16] and Aging, A Natural History.[17]
Awards
Career
- Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 1968-1972
- Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 1972-1978
- Professor, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 1978-1995
- Curators’ Professor, Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 1995-.[25]
Personal life
Ricklefs is married to the botanist Susanne Renner.
Notes and References
- Web site: 2019-08-28 . Noted ecologist and ornithologist Bob Ricklefs aims to remain involved at UMSL even after retirement . 2022-09-28 . UMSL Daily.
- Gillespie . Rosemary G. . 2011 . Interview with Robert E. Ricklefs, recipient of the 2011 Alfred Russel Wallace award . Frontiers of Biogeography . en . 3 . 1 . 10.21425/F5FBG12391. 83880583 . free .
- Brewster Award, 1982: Robert E. Ricklefs . 2022-09-28 . The Auk . 1983 . 100 . 268 . 10.1093/auk/100.1.268.
- http://www.pacificseabirdgroup.org/publications/PacificSeabirds/VOL_30_1_pgs_1-41.PDF Pacific Seabirds Vol. 30
- Web site: Margaret Morse Nice Medal. https://archive.today/20121209083324/http://www.wilsonsociety.org/awards/nicemedal.html. dead. 2012-12-09. 2012-04-09. Wilson Ornithological Society. 2010-05-29.
- http://www.cooper.org/COS/COS_award_miller.html COS: Miller Awards
- Ricklefs . Robert. E. . Cox . George W. . 1972 . Taxon Cycles in the West Indian Avifauna . The American Naturalist . 106 . 948 . 195–219 . 2459928 . 10.1086/282762. 84412686 .
- Ricklefs . R. E. . Robert Ricklefs. Community Diversity: Relative Roles of Local and Regional Processes . 10.1126/science.235.4785.167 . Science . 235 . 4785 . 167–171 . 1987 . 17778629. 1987Sci...235..167R . 2792273 .
- Ricklefs . R. E. . Robert Ricklefs. Disintegration of the Ecological Community . 10.1086/593002 . The American Naturalist . 172 . 6 . 741–750 . 2008 . 18954264 . 17464820 .
- Ricklefs . Robert E. . November 1967 . A Graphical Method of Fitting Equations to Growth Curves . Ecology . en . 48 . 6 . 978–983 . 10.2307/1934545. 1934545 .
- Ricklefs . Robert E. . Patterns of Growth in Birds . 2008-04-03 . Ibis . en . 110 . 4 . 419–451 . 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1968.tb00058.x.
- Weight Recession in Nestling Birds . The Auk . 10.2307/4083621. 4083621 . Ricklefs . Robert E. . 1968 . 85 . 1 . 30–35 . free .
- Ricklefs . Robert E. . Growth Rates of Birds in the Humid New World Tropics . 2008-04-03 . Ibis . en . 118 . 2 . 179–207 . 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1976.tb03065.x.
- Book: Ricklefs, Robert E. . Miller, Gary L. . Ecology . Freeman . San Francisco . 2000 . 0-7167-2829-X .
- Book: Amazon.com: The Economy of Nature (9780716786979): Robert E. Ricklefs: Books. 978-0716786979. Ricklefs. Robert E.. 2008-12-11.
- Book: Starck . J. Matthias . Avian Growth and Development: Evolution Within the Altricial-precocial Spectrum . Ricklefs . Robert E. . 1998 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-510608-4 . en.
- Book: Ricklefs, Robert E. . Aging : a natural history . 1995 . Scientific American Library . Caleb Finch . 0-7167-5056-2 . New York . 31969925.
- Ricklefs . Robert E. . 2008-12-01 . Disintegration of the Ecological Community . The American Naturalist . 172 . 6 . 741–750 . 10.1086/593002 . 18954264 . 17464820 . 0003-0147.
- Turelli . Michael . 2006-01-01 . 2005 Sewall Wright Award: Robert E. Ricklefs . The American Naturalist . 167 . 1 . i . 10.1086/498280 . 17209245 . 84755619 . 0003-0147.
- Viegas . J. . 10.1073/pnas.1213178109 . Profile of Robert Ricklefs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 2012 . 22908302 . 3458327 . 2012PNAS..10915075V . 109 . 38 . 15075–15077. free .
- Web site: Home - The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine - National-Academies.org - Where the Nation Turns for Independent, Expert Advice.
- Web site: 2015 Robert e. Ricklefs.
- 2017-05-01 . Honorary Lifetime Membership Award: Robert Ricklefs . The American Naturalist . 189 . 5 . iii . 10.1086/691357 . 28410020 . 0003-0147.
- Web site: Past Honorary Degree Recipients .
- Web site: Robert E.