Robert M. Pringle Explained

Robert M. Pringle
Birth Place:Ann Arbor, Michigan
Nationality:American
Workplaces:Princeton University
Fields:Ecology
Awards:Guggenheim Fellowship

Robert Mitchell Pringle (born February 9, 1979) is an American biologist and conservationist.

He is professor and director of undergraduate studies in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University.[1] [2]

Pringle's research combines field and laboratory methods to understand biological interactions and biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems, chiefly African savannas.[3]

One major focus of Pringle's work has been understanding the ecological impacts of armed conflict and the dynamics of postwar ecosystem restoration in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Early life and education

Pringle was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[11]

His father, cell biologist John Pringle, and mother, cancer biologist Beverly Mitchell, encouraged his love of nature.[11]

Pringle’s sister, Elizabeth, is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Nevada, Reno.[12]

Pringle graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001, completed an M.Sc. degree at the University of Oxford in 2004, and received a Ph.D. in biology from Stanford University in 2009.[13] He was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows before joining the Princeton faculty in 2012.[14] [15]

Career

Pringle's early research experimentally documented the keystone roles played by large herbivores, carnivores, and subterranean termites in regulating biodiversity and ecosystem function in savannas.[16] [17]

In 2013, Pringle's lab was among the first to use DNA metabarcoding to understand dietary niche differentiation and its role in sustaining the coexistence of animal species.[18] [19] [20] [21]

Pringle also worked with Princeton colleagues Corina Tarnita and Juan Bonachela to develop new theories about the formation of large, regular vegetation patterns, such as the Namib Desert fairy circles.[22] [23]

Pringle's work in Gorongosa has focused on measuring the ecological and evolutionary impacts of losing large herbivores and carnivores, as well as the dynamics of community reassembly as these species have been restored.[24] [25] [26] [10]

This research was featured in the Emmy Award nominated nature documentary, Nature’s Fear Factor.[27]

Pringle serves on the board of the Guanacaste Dry Forest Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization supporting conservation and biodiversity research in Costa Rica’s Area de Conservación Guanacaste.[28] With Simon Levin and Corina Tarnita, he is the editor of the Monographs in Population Biology published by Princeton University Press, a series of influential books in ecology and evolutionary biology.[29]

Recognition

Pringle received the Early Career Investigator Award from the American Society of Naturalists in 2011 and was named an Early Career Fellow of the Ecological Society of America in 2015.[30] [31] [32]

Students at Princeton have described Pringle as a passionate and creative teacher.[33]

The parasitoid wasp Lytopylus robpringlei was named after Pringle in 2011, in honor of his conservation work.[34] This species was later transferred into the genus Aerophilus.[35]

In 2024, Pringle was named a Guggenheim Fellow.[36]

Personal life

Pringle is married to Corina Tarnita, a mathematician and biologist who is also a professor at Princeton. Pringle and Tarnita have collaborated on multiple research projects, and they have one daughter.[37] [38]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Robert Pringle - Faculty - Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. 18 November 2022. Princeton University. en.
  2. Web site: Rob Pringle - Princeton University. Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival & Conservation Summit. 18 November 2022.
  3. Web site: Robert Pringle. Princeton Environmental Research. 18 November 2022.
  4. Web site: Blanding . Michael. 13 April 2018. Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: Ecological Cost of War. Princeton Alumni Weekly .
  5. News: How war affects wildlife. The Economist. 0013-0613. 18 November 2022.
  6. News: When humans wage war, animals suffer too: study. Nation. 2 July 2020.
  7. News: Think Like a Scientist: Gorongosa. PBS LearningMedia.
  8. News: In Mozambique, a Living Laboratory for Nature's Renewal. Angier. Natalie. 23 July 2018. New York Times.
  9. News: Spark of Science: Rob Pringle. Cepelewicz. Jordana. 20 December 2016. Nautilus.
  10. News: The wild experiment to bring apex predators back from the brink. Weiss, Sabrina. 3 May 2020. 18 November 2022. Wired UK. . 1357-0978.
  11. Web site: Labrecque, Jeff. 13 December 2021. With DNA toolkit, Rob Pringle is learning how to rebuild broken ecosystems. Princeton Alumni Weekly.
  12. Web site: Elizabeth Pringle - Faculty - Department of Biology. 18 November 2022. University of Nevada, Reno.
  13. Web site: Robert M. Pringle. 18 November 2022. Gorongosa.
  14. Web site: Current & Former Junior Fellows. Society of Fellows - Harvard University.
  15. Web site: Robert M. Pringle. American Scientist.
  16. News: Fountain. Henry . 9 January 2007. The Ungulate Effect on a Ecosystem. New York Times.
  17. Ecology: Mighty termite mounds. Nature . 2010. 465. 7298. 529. 10.1038/465529c. 2010Natur.465S.529. . 29896741. 1476-4687. free.
  18. Web site: Kelly. Morgan . 26 October 2015. 18 November 2022. Princeton University. Understanding animal coexistence with a little dung and a lot of DNA.
  19. Web site: Niche Partitioning and Species Coexistence. 18 November 2022. HHMI BioInteractive. November 11, 2015.
  20. Web site: Pringle. Robert. Species coexistence in landscapes of fear. 6 June 2019. Ecology & Evolution Community . Nature Portfolio. 18 November 2022.
  21. Kartzinel, Tyler R. . Chen, Patricia A. . Coverdale, Tyler C. . Erickson, David L. . Kress, W. John . Kuzmina, Maria L. . Rubenstein, Daniel I. . Wang, Wei . Pringle, Robert M. . 30 June 2015. DNA metabarcoding illuminates dietary niche partitioning by African large herbivores . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 112. 26. 8019–8024. 10.1073/pnas.1503283112. 26034267. 4491742. 2015PNAS..112.8019K . 0027-8424. free.
  22. News: Namibia's fairy circles: Has one of nature's great mysteries been solved?. Thomas. Page. CNN. 18 November 2022.
  23. News: St. Fleur. Nicholas. 19 January 2017. Fishing for Clues to Solve Namibia's Fairy Circle Mystery. New York Times.
  24. Web site: Avolinsky. Anna. 15 May 2013. Breaking Ground: Bringing back the lions and zebras. Princeton Alumni Weekly.
  25. News: Vinter. Robyn. 21 October 2021. Ivory poaching has led to evolution of tuskless elephants, study finds. The Guardian.
  26. News: Pringle. Robert. 4 May 2020. A rewilding success story in Gorongosa National Park. Nature Portfolio Ecology & Evolution Community. 18 November 2022.
  27. News: NOVA. Nature's Fear Factor - Season 47 - Episode 9 . 18 November 2022. PBS.
  28. Web site: Rob Pringle - GDFCF. 18 November 2022. www.gdfcf.org.
  29. News: Monographs in Population Biology. 18 November 2022. Princeton University Press.
  30. Web site: Awards. American Society of Naturalists. 18 November 2022.
  31. Web site: ESA Fellows. Ecological Society of America.
  32. Web site: Pringle named ESA Early Career Fellow for contributions to ecology. 18 November 2022. Princeton University.
  33. News: Levey, Julie. 22 November 2020. Professor Pringle gets inventive with online teaching. The Daily Princetonian.
  34. Sharkey. Michael. Stoelb. Stephanie. Tucker. Erika. Janzen. Daniel. Hallwachs. Winnie. Dapkey. Tanya. Smith. M. Alex. 24 September 2011. Lytopylus Förster (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Agathidinae) species from Costa Rica, with an emphasis on specimens reared from caterpillars in Area de Conservación Guanacaste. ZooKeys . 130 . 379–419 . 10.3897/zookeys.130.1569 . 1313-2970. free . 3252762.
  35. Sharkey. Michael J.. Chapman. Eric G.. CamposFirst3= Giulia Yurie Iza de. 9 December 2016. Revision of Aerophilus Szépligeti (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Agathidinae) from eastern North America, with a key to Nearctic species north of Mexico . Contributions in Science. 524. 51–109. 10.5962/p.308968. 0459-8113. free.
  36. Web site: Saxon . Jamie . 2024-04-11 . Seven Princeton faculty members receive 2024 Guggenheim Fellowships . 2024-05-19 . Princeton University . en.
  37. News: Corina Tarnita and the Deep Mathematics of Social Insects. Strogatz, Steven. 18 February 2020. Quanta Magazine.
  38. News: Ecosystems and Drought. High Meadows Environmental Institute. 18 November 2022.

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