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Simberloff Receives Honorary Doctorate

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Simberloff Receives Honorary Doctorate

Tel Aviv President Ariel Porat, from left, congratulates University of Tennessee Professor Daniel Simberloff, along with TAU Rector Mark Shtaif on stage while in black and red regalia
Tel Aviv President Ariel Porat, from left, congratulates University of Tennessee Professor Daniel Simberloff, along with TAU Rector Mark Shtaif. TAU presented an honorary doctorate on May 30, 2024, to Simberloff, the Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Science in UT’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The honor cites Simberloff’s “legendary achievements as an ecologist, conservation biologist and invasive species expert.”

by Amy Beth Miller

Daniel Simberloff’s contributions to ecology and conservation biology as a researcher, educator, and mentor received recognition this spring from Tel Aviv University (TAU).

Simberloff, the Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Studies in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, received an honorary doctorate during a May 30 ceremony at TAU. The certificate cites Simberloff’s “legendary achievements as an ecologist, conservation biologist and invasive species expert.”

Simberloff is the first ecologist to receive an honorary degree from Tel Aviv University, and the university also asked him to open a symposium that week that brought together scientists from across Israel studying biological invasions and government policymakers. 

Simberloff first served as a visiting professor at Tel Aviv University in 1996 and before that had co-advised a TAU doctoral student, with whom he continued to collaborate. He also was involved in planning for the university’s Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. 

The honorary degree presented to Simberloff notes that his work “is studied by virtually every undergraduate student in the field worldwide” and is “helping to prevent extinctions and protect biodiversity.”

“It’s really gratifying,” he said of the honor, “because it’s a nation with a lot of ecologists doing world-class work and publishing in all the leading journals, and people working right in my major area of biological invasions and much concerned with conservation in a very challenging environment.”

The honorary degrees were presented during the annual meeting of TAU’s Board of Governors, which includes representatives from around the world.

The eight other honorees included the co-founder of WhatsApp and the first Jewish woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as others recognized for academics, contributions to the arts, activism, and entrepreneurship.

During the ceremony, TAU President Ariel Porat said, “Even in wartime, we must maintain our way of life. Especially for a university, it is crucial to continue researching, teaching, and contributing to society. Today’s honorary degrees ceremony shows that the pursuit of science and knowledge never stops.”

Simberloff’s contributions to understanding the natural world also were recognized in August 2023 by the British Ecological Society (BES). The honorary membership he received in the BES is the highest honor it bestows, recognizing exceptional contribution at the international level to the generation, communication, and promotion of ecological knowledge and solutions.

McGill University awarded Simberloff an honorary Doctor of Science degree in June 2023, calling him a pioneer and renowned scholar in ecology and conservation biology. “Studying the susceptibility of ecosystems to biological invasions years before the phenomenon became a thriving subdiscipline, Simberloff is a world leader in this research area,” McGill said in honoring him.

Simberloff Honored by British Ecological Society

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Each year, the British Ecological Society (BES) recognizes 11 distinguished ecologists whose work has benefited the scientific community and society in general.

Daniel Simberloff, the Gore Hunger Professor of Environmental Science in the UT Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, received an honorary membership – the Society’s highest honor – for his “exceptional contribution at the international level to the generation, communication, and promotion of ecological knowledge and solutions.”

“I have been an avid reader of BES journals since my earliest graduate school days,” Simberloff said. “My extensive research on Charles Elton led me to a greater appreciation of the leading role BES plays in shaping the direction of ecological research. I am humbled and deeply grateful that the Society would confer such an honor on me.”

Simberloff’s research focus is invasion biology, community composition, and the structure of organisms in specific features. One long-term project in Patagonia he has worked on involves invasive conifer trees and the introduction of deer, boar, and fungi. Almost a century ago, non-native tree species were introduced to a cleared section in the middle of a native forest in an attempt to establish a forestry industry on Isla Victoria, an island in the middle of Lake Nahuel Huapi. Only seven of the original species spread in number beyond the plantations.

“Our research shows that absence of suitable mycorrhizal fungi in the native forest keeps many of the non-native species from spreading,” Simberloff said. “Boar introduced in 1999, however, are exacerbating the invasion by rooting for fungal mycelium. Also, two species of deer introduced long ago may be aiding the spread.”

Simberloff became fascinated with nature during his childhood in rural Pennsylvania, but it was his time at Harvard College that got him hooked on ecology.

“I was seduced by the aesthetics and challenge of mathematics, but a non-majors biology course and an entomology course steered me back into biology and to the laboratory of Edward O. Wilson, who advised my doctorate: a test of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography with the arthropod communities of small mangrove islands,” Simberloff said. “This research and interactions with Wilson and Robert MacArthur, who served as a member of my doctoral committee, led me to a lifelong interest in the community level of organization – which species are found together, which are not found together, and why.”

Simberloff, along with Robin Chazdon, University of the Sunshine Coast, in Australia and Monica Turner, University of Wisconsin-Madison, joined the BES Honorary Membership roster, which includes British Ecologist Sir David Attenborough.

This year, there are winners across five continents, representing the international membership of the BES. Learn more about the 2023 BES award winners.

EEB Spring 2023 Awards Video

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Faculty, staff and students from EEB gathered on May 18, 2023 to celebrate the end of the semester, recognize award-winners, and honor retirees. Check out this YouTube video to see all of the winners, along with some photos from the celebration.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzOlHjXd_pY

Graduate Student Wieteke Holthuijzen awarded at 50th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group

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EEB Graduate Student Wieteke Holthuijzen received the best PhD poster award at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Seabird Group and also received the Chairs Choice Award for assistance in organizing the conference. Per their website, “The Pacific Seabird Group (PSG) is a society of professional seabird researchers and managers dedicated to the study and conservation of seabirds…PSG members include biologists, wildlife managers, post-docs, students and conservation biologists from 16 countries including the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan. PSG annual meetings and publications provide forums where members can share their findings on all research topics related to Pacific seabirds, and discuss local and large scale conservation issues.”

 

Title: Determining arthropod consumption by Laysan Ducks to inform non-target mitigation efforts during rodent eradication

Authors: Wieteke Holthuijzen, Carmen Antaky, Beth Flint, Jonathan Plissner, Coral Wolf, Holly Jones

 

Abstract: The critically endangered koloa pōhaka (Laysan Duck, Anas laysanensis) in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands has wild populations on Kamole (Laysan Island), Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll NWR), and Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll). Although its population and distribution have increased since its listing in 1967, the koloa pōhaka faces a new risk on Kuaihelani: non-target poisoning via a pending House Mouse (Mus musculus) eradication. After mice were observed attacking and depredating mōlī (Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis) on Sand Island of Kuaihelani in 2015, plans to eradicate mice with rodenticide were quickly developed. To reduce exposure to rodenticide, ducks will be captured and translocated to Eastern Island (mouse-free) during eradication activities. Even so, ducks may risk secondary poisoning by ingesting arthropods that feed on brodifacoum bait. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor rodenticide residue in arthropods to determine when koloa pōhaka can be safely released post-eradication. Because duck diet is unknown on Kuaihelani, we used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to identify which arthropods ducks consume. We found that Sand Island’s ducks most frequently consume cockroaches (Blattodea), freshwater ostracods (Cyprididae), midges (Chironomidae), and isopods (Porcellionidae). Notably, Sand Island’s ducks consume entirely different arthropods from ducks on Kamole, which mainly eat flies (Diptera) and brine shrimp (Anostraca, Artemia sp.). Our study adds to the literature on the biology and ecology of translocated koloa pōhaka populations by using advanced techniques to uncover their diet with a high degree of taxonomic precision. In addition, our study serves as a model for risk mitigation during invasive rodent eradications.

Three Minute Thesis Competition

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Two EEB grad students are competing in the 3-minute thesis competition next week: Jordan Bush (Simberloff Lab) and Sara Lipshutz (Derryberry Lab). This is a University-wide competition, so we are doing well to have two EEB-ers representing us! See pdf for details.

Jordan and Sara are speaking on February 26, 2018 at 3:30 p.m. in room 160 of the Plant Biotechnology Building, in the first of three Three Minute Thesis semi-final competitions. The Three Minute Thesis competition is one in which graduate students have three minutes and a single slide to explain their dissertation or thesis research to a group of judges and an audience (that may not even be familiar with the academic area). It’s a valuable exercise and a great way to showcase the amazing work being done by UT graduate students. It’s also a perfect way to start Graduate Education Week, so come by and watch the competition and support our graduate students!

Simberloff Amongst Most Cited

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Professor Daniel Simberloff is one of two UT faculty members who have earned the distinction of being among the most cited researchers in the world, according to Clarivate Analytics, formerly Thompson Reuters.

It’s the second such recognition in a row for Simberloff.

Those measurements came in relation to specific findings and papers rather than a cross-examination of all work tied to a researcher, placing Simberloff in the top 1 percent of all research scientists across the world.

The full UT News story can be viewed here.