Eric R. Pianka (born 23 January
1939) is an American
biologist,
best known for his contributions to herpetology and evolutionary ecology.
Biography
Eric R.
Pianka was born in Siskiyou
County
along the California
-Oregon
border in
1939. At age 13, he was seriously injured in a
bazooka blast in the front yard of his
childhood home in Yreka, California
. His left leg became
gangrenous, and he lost 10 cm of his
tibia, as well as the terminal digit of the middle
finger on his right hand. Pianka's childhood injury left him with a
short and partially paralyzed leg. In later life, his short leg
resulted in spinal
scoliosis and cervical
spondylosis (an S-shaped spine and a pinched brachial nerve between
neck vertebrae).
He
graduated from Carleton
College
(B.A., 1960) and earned his Ph.D. from the University of
Washington
in 1965. He went on to do postdoctoral work with the
famed ecologist Robert MacArthur at
Princeton
University
. This period, during which he worked closely
with the temporarily studentless MacArthur, had a major influence
on Pianka's thinking. Together, the two ecologists discussed the
basic theoretical aspects of community ecology. The fruits of their
collaboration included the classic paper "On optimal use of a
patchy environment". Pianka frequently mentions MacArthur in his
lectures and keeps a webpage for his deceased mentor and colleague.
In some ways, Pianka's own research program expands upon and
continues the work that he and MacArthur began.
Since
1968, Pianka has been on the faculty of the University of
Texas at Austin
. Despite his injuries, he is one of the
world's most accomplished field ecologists and has performed
extensive ecological investigations on vertebrate communities in
three desert systems on three continents: the Great Basin, Mojave,
and Sonora Deserts in North America; the Kalahari in Africa; and
the Great Victoria desert in Western Australia. His monographic
treatment of this work is a landmark ecological synthesis (Pianka,
1986). Pianka's interests are broad, and his research includes
empirical and theoretical components of natural history,
systematics, community and landscape ecology. His current work
focuses on lizard communities in Australia. This research includes
projects on the phylogeny and ecology of a number of groups of
Australian lizards and an extensive study of the unique biotic
landscape produced by Australian brush fires. His favorite lizard
is a small Australian
goanna,
Varanus eremius. In his research,
Pianka combines traditional field biological methods with recent
technological innovations in statistical analysis, phylogenetic
reconstruction, and imaging of the Earth's surface in attempts to
answer major questions about evolution and ecology.
Pianka has trained a number of successful scientists. Twelve of his
former graduate students are professors at major universities,
among them Kirk Winemiller, a professor at Texas A&M University
and Raymond Huey, a professor at the University of Washington.
Additionally, he teaches a range of popular undergraduate courses;
he received an award for excellence in teaching from UT Austin in
1999.
Pianka was a 1978
Guggenheim
Fellow, a 1981
American
Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, and a 1990
Fulbright Senior Research Scholar.
He has received numerous awards, and at least three species, one
lizard and two lizard parasites, are named after him.. A symposium
in his honor was held by the Herpetologist's League in 2004. The
American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists passed a
resolution on the word "Piankafication" to describe Pianka's
influence on evolutionary biology and ecology at their business
meeting in 2004. In this resolution, they noted that he has had
"vast and immeasurable influence on several fields of evolutionary
ecology" and that his "years in the field have set the standard for
both natural history and for ecological studies, resulting in
publications that have lain the foundation for research
programs..."
Pianka has produced over a hundred scientific papers, many of them
highly cited and influential, and a classic textbook,
Evolutionary Ecology. He also writes for the general
public, and his book "Lizards-Windows to the Evolution of
Diversity," coauthored with longtime collaborator Laurie Vitt, won
both the Robert W. Hamilton Faculty Author Award at The University
of Texas at Austin and the Oklahoma Book Award from the Oklahoma
Center for the Book.
Texas Academy of Science speech
Pianka's March, 2006 acceptance speech for the 2006 Distinguished
Texas Scientist award by the The Texas Academy of Science resulted
in controversy in the popular press when
Forrest Mims claimed that Pianka had advocated
genocide.
Mims' affiliate at the Discovery Institute, William Dembski, then informed the
Department
of Homeland Security
because he and Mims felt that Pianka's speech
fomented bioterrorism.
This
resulted in the Federal Bureau of
Investigation
interviewing Pianka in Austin.
Pianka has stated that Mims took his statements out of context and
that Pianka was stating what would happen from biological
principles alone if present human population trends continue, and
that he was not in any way advocating for it to happen. The host of
the speech, the
Texas Academy
of Sciences, has released a statement stating that:
"Many of Dr. Pianka's statements have been severely
misconstrued and sensationalized."
References
- Bazooka Injuries
- Pianka and Vitt, 2003.
- MacArthur and Pianka, 1966.
- Robert MacArthur website
- Pianka lab site
- Current research
- Varanus eremius
- Winemiller lab
- Home - Raymond B. Huey
- Undergraduate courses
- Honors and awards
- ASIH Resolution on Piankification
- Eric Pianka's "obituary"
- Awards for "Lizards-Windows to the Evolution of
Diversity"
- The Citizen Scientist - "Meeting Dr. Doom"
- Uncommon Descent (by William Dembski) - "Eric Pianka: The Department of Homeland Security needs to
interview you"
Bibliography
- Pianka, Eric R. Evolutionary Ecology (Fourth Edition),
1983, ISBN 0-06-045216-1
External links
Wikis
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