Robert K. Selander
Robert Keith Selander (born July 21, 1927 in Garfield , Utah , † June 14, 2015 ) was an American population geneticist , evolutionary biologist and ornithologist .
Life
Selander grew up in Salt Lake City . In 1950 he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Utah . In 1951 he graduated from the same university with a Master of Science in zoology. In 1956 he was with the thesis Speciation in wrens of the genus Campylorhynchus for Ph.D. PhD in Zoology from the University of California at Berkeley .
From 1956 to 1974 he was a lecturer and then professor at the University of Texas at Austin . From 1960 to 1961 he completed his postdoc phase as a research assistant at the American Museum of Natural History . From 1974 to 1987 he was Professor of Biology at the University of Rochester . From 1987 to 1999 he held the Eberly Chair in Biology at Pennsylvania State University . In 2000 he retired as professor emeritus .
Selander published over 200 scientific articles. In the early days of his career, he focused on the behavior and evolution of birds. He performed pioneering work in the application of molecular genetic approaches to research into genetic population structures, in classical studies of the genetic structure of house mouse populations, and in researching the origins of blind cave fish. In the 1980s, Selander applied molecular genetic approaches to understanding bacterial population structures . Among them were many pathogenic organisms that were responsible for disease outbreaks. He has published papers on the salmonella pathogen, the foodborne diseases and Neisseria meningitidis , the type of bacteria that causes meningitis .
Selander subspecies described passerella schistacea swarthi the slate Ammer , Dendragapus obscurus oreinus the Rocky Mountain chicken and Chordeiles minor neotropicalis the common nighthawk .
In the 1960s and 1970s, Robert K. Selander and colleague Richard F. Johnson conducted a study of the differences in the morphology and skeletal elements of house sparrows in North America, for which they won the 1975 Elliott Coues Medal of the American Ornithologists' Union were awarded.
family
Robert Selander's twin brother Richard B. Selander was a well-known entomologist. His wife Bonnie, whom he married in 1951, worked for the Red Cross. From this marriage a son and a daughter were born.
Honors and memberships
In 1964, Selander received a Guggenheim grant for the research area of organismic biology and ecology. In 1982 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences . He was also a member of the Society for the Study of Evolution (President in 1976), a member of the American Ornithologists' Union , a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science , an overseas member of the Linnean Society of London , a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985) and a corresponding member of the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias .
literature
- George Murphy: Robert K. Selander, UR Biologist, elected to National Academy. In: Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, April 28, 1982, p. 2, Retrieved from Newspapers.com on May 12, 2019.
- Robert Keith Selander. American Men & Women of Science: A Biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in Physical, Biological, and Related Sciences, Gale, 2008. Biography In Context, Retrieved May 12, 2019.
Web links
- Pennsylvania State University obituary
- Literature by and about Robert K. Selander in the WorldCat bibliographic database
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Selander, Robert K. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Selander, Robert Keith (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American population geneticist, evolutionary biologist, and ornithologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 21, 1927 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Garfield , Utah |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 14, 2015 |