Russell Mittermeier

Russell A. 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.

Biography

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, Suriname and Madagascar. Mittermeier's fieldwork has been focused 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. He is also notable as one of relatively few scientists to argue in favor of serious study of the North American Bigfoot phenomenon. [ [http://www.bfro.net/GDB/show_article.asp?id=328 BFRO Media Article 328 ] ]

Mittermeier was named president of Conservation International in 1989. 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.

Family

Russell Mittermier has been married for 16 years to Cristina Mittermeier a marine biologist by training and Executive Director of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP).

Together they live in Great Falls, Virginia where they are raising two of their children, Michael (16),who is currently attending the millbrook school and Juliana who takes an interest in acting, and sports(11). An older child, John Mittermeier, who has just graduated from Yale University.

Awards and Honors

Mittermeier 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. [http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-07/ci-aso072904.php]

elected Bibliography

Among the many books coauthored by Russell Mittermeier, "Hotspots", "Wilderness Areas", and "Transboundary Conservation" stand out.

References

* [http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/about/bios/rmittermeier.xml Conservation International Staff Bios] Russell Mittermeier
* [http://www.conservation.org/xp/news/press_releases/2004/072904.xml Conservation International Press Release] American Society of Mammalogists Honors CI President Russell Mittermeier with Aldo Leopold Award, July 29, 2004.
* [http://www.conservation.org/xp/news/press_releases/2006/062106.xml Conservation International Press Release] New Lemur Species Named For CI President, June 21, 2006.
* [http://www.defyingnaturesend.org/about/bios/mittermeier.html Defying Nature's End] Biographies
* [http://www.teaminitiative.org/application/about/steeringcommittee_summary/objectid=4fb38858-63ea-11d4-baab-001083fc49a3&clas.html TEAM Initiative] Biographies

External links

* [http://www.conservation.org Conservation International]
* [http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/library/ CI Library]
* [http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org Biodiversity Hotspots]
* [http://www.teaminitiative.org/ Conservation International TEAM Initiative]
* [http://www.biodiversityscience.org The Center for Applied Biodiversity Science]
* [http://www.conservation.org/xp/frontlines/species/qa31.xml Conservation Frontlines New Species:] Marmoset Q&A
* [http://www.time.com/time/reports/environment/heroes/heroesgallery/0,2967,mitter,00.html Time's Heroes Gallery]