Russell Mittermeier

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Russell Mittermeier (born November 8, 1949) is a primatologist, herpetologist and biological anthropologist. He has written several books for both popular and scientist audiences, and has authored some 300 scientific papers.

Dr. Mittermeier received his B.A. (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Dartmouth in 1971 and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Biological Anthropology in 1977.

He has conducted fieldwork for over 30 years on three continents and in more than 20 countries in mainly tropical locations, notably Brazil, Guyana and Madagascar. Mittermeier's fieldwork has been focussed on primates, protected areas, and other conservation issues and he is considered an expert on such topics as biological diversity and its value to humanity, ecosystem conservation, tropical biology and species conservation.

Mittermeier has formally discovered several monkey species. He was honored for his work in Madagascar in 2006 with the naming of a newly discovered species of mouse lemur Microcebus mittermeieri, or Mittermeier's Mouse Lemur. Russell Mittermeier is the author of Lemurs of Madagascar, a comprehensive field guide on the country's flagship species.

Dr. Russell Mittermeier was named president of Conservation International in 1989, and is the only active field biologist to head an international conservation organization. In addition to his work at CI, Mittermeier has served as Chairman of the IUCN-World Conservation Union Species Survival Commission's Primate Specialist Group since 1977, and as the Chairman of the World Bank's Task Force of Biological Diversity in 1988 and 1989. He also serves as President of the Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation and an Adjunct Professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Prior to coming to Conservation International, he was Vice President for Science at the World Wildlife Fund.

The contributions and work of Russell Mittermeier has been recognized by many institutions and national governments, and he has received many awards, including:

• San Diego Zoo Gold Medal, 1988
• The Order of the Golden Ark from His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (1995)
• The Grand Order of the Southern Cross from the President of Brazil (1997)
• The Grand Sash and Order of the Yellow Star from the President of Suriname (1998)
• In 1998, he was also selected as one of Time magazine's "EcoHeroes for the Planet".
• The second annual Aldo Leopold Award from the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM), 2004.[1]

[edit] References

• Conservation International Staff Bios Russell Mittermeier
• Conservation International Press Release

American Society of Mammalogists Honors CI President Russell Mittermeier with Aldo Leopold Award, July 29, 2004.

• Conservation International Press Release New Lemur Species Named For CI President, June 21, 2006.
• Defying Nature's End Biographies
• TEAM Initiative Biographies

[edit] External links

• Conservation International
• CI Library
• Biodiversity Hotspots
• Conservation International TEAM Initiative
• The Center for Applied Biodiversity Science
• Conservation Frontlines New Species: Marmoset Q&A

• Time's Heroes Gallery