Eric Pianka
Encyclopedia
Eric Rodger Pianka is an American
biologist, whose work includes herpetology
and evolutionary ecology
. His textbook, Evolutionary Ecology (1983) is considered a classic, and his writings for the general public and television appearances have made him an influential figure.
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).
(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.
. His interests are broad and his research includes empirical and theoretical components of natural history, systematics, community and landscape ecology.
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 monograph
ic treatment of this work is a landmark ecological synthesis (Pianka, 1986).
Pianka's current work focuses on lizard communities in Australia. His research projects include study of 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 other scientists and twelve of his former graduate students are professors at major universities, including 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.
claimed in the Society for Amateur Scientists
Ezine The Citizen Scientist that Pianka had "endorsed the elimination of 90 percent of the human population" through a disease such as an airborne strain of the Ebola virus
. Mims claimed that Pianka said the Earth would not survive unless its population was reduced by 90% suggesting that the planet would be "better off" if the human population were reduced and that a mutant strain of Ebola (which has up to a 90% mortality rate) would be the most efficient means. Mims' affiliate at the Discovery Institute
, William Dembski
, then informed the Department of Homeland Security that Pianka's speech may have been intended to foment 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 he was simply describing 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 Texas Academy, which hosted of the speech, released a statement asserting that "Many of Dr. Pianka's statements have been severely misconstrued and sensationalized."
Pianka has appeared on NBC
-affiliate KXAN Austin
and "be on two cable talk shows Tuesday ... to try and clear his name". Pianka has posted an explanation on his University of Texas website (excerpt of longer statement):
As a consequence of the controversy, Pianka and members of the Texas Academy of Science have received death threats. According to Pianka, "His daughters are now worried about his and their safety, and says his life has been flip turned upside-down by 'right-wing fools.'"
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 received the 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist Award from the Texas Academy of Science. He and his research were featured in a wildlife documentary on monitor lizards — "Lizard Kings" — which premiered nationally on the PBS
NOVA
series in October 2009.
Books:
Articles:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
biologist, whose work includes herpetology
Herpetology
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles...
and evolutionary ecology
Evolutionary ecology
Evolutionary ecology lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology. It approaches the study of ecology in a way that explicitly considers the evolutionary histories of species and the interactions between them. Conversely, it can be seen as an approach to the study of evolution that...
. His textbook, Evolutionary Ecology (1983) is considered a classic, and his writings for the general public and television appearances have made him an influential figure.
Youth
Pianka was born in Siskiyou CountySiskiyou County, California
Siskiyou County is a county located in the far northernmost part of the U.S. state of California, in the Shasta Cascade region on the Oregon border. Yreka is the county seat. Because of its substantial natural beauty, outdoor recreation opportunities, and Gold Rush era history, it is an important...
along the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
-Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
border in 1939. At age 13, he was seriously injured in a bazooka
Bazooka
Bazooka is the common name for a man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon, widely fielded by the U.S. Army. Also referred to as the "Stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was amongst the first-generation of rocket propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat...
blast in the front yard of his childhood home in Yreka, California
Yreka, California
Yreka is the county seat of Siskiyou County, California, United States. The population was 7,765 at the 2010 census, up from 7,290 at the 2000 census.- History:...
. His left leg became gangrenous
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
, and he lost 10 cm of his tibia
Tibia
The tibia , shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates , and connects the knee with the ankle bones....
, 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
Scoliosis
Scoliosis is a medical condition in which a person's spine is curved from side to side. Although it is a complex three-dimensional deformity, on an X-ray, viewed from the rear, the spine of an individual with scoliosis may look more like an "S" or a "C" than a straight line...
and cervical spondylosis (an S-shaped spine and a pinched brachial nerve between neck vertebrae).
Education
Pianka graduated from Carleton CollegeCarleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
(B.A., 1960) and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in 1965. He went on to do postdoctoral work with the famed ecologist Robert MacArthur
Robert MacArthur
Robert Helmer MacArthur was an American ecologist who made a major impact on many areas of community and population ecology....
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. 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.
Career
Since 1968, Pianka has been on the faculty of the University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
. His interests are broad and his research includes empirical and theoretical components of natural history, systematics, community and landscape ecology.
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
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
, Mojave
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
, and Sonora Deserts in North America; the Kalahari in Africa; and the Great Victoria desert
Great Victoria Desert
The Great Victoria Desert is a barren and sparsely populated desert area of southern Australia.-Location and description:The Great Victoria is the biggest desert in Australia and consists of many small sandhills, grassland plains, areas with a closely packed surface of pebbles and salt lakes...
in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. His monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
ic treatment of this work is a landmark ecological synthesis (Pianka, 1986).
Pianka's current work focuses on lizard communities in Australia. His research projects include study of 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
Goanna
Goanna is the name used to refer to any number of Australian monitor lizards of the genus Varanus, as well as to certain species from Southeast Asia.There are around 30 species of goanna, 25 of which are found in Australia...
, 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 other scientists and twelve of his former graduate students are professors at major universities, including 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.
Texas Academy of Science speech
Pianka's acceptance speech for the 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist Award from the Texas Academy of Science resulted in a controversy in the popular press when creationist and amateur scientist Forrest MimsForrest Mims
Forrest M. Mims III is an amateur scientist, magazine columnist, and author of the popular Getting Started in Electronics and Engineer's Mini-Notebook series of instructional books that was originally sold in Radio Shack electronics stores. Mims graduated from Texas A&M University in 1966 with a...
claimed in the Society for Amateur Scientists
Society for Amateur Scientists
The Society for Amateur Scientists is a non-profit 501 organization dedicated to "helping ordinary people do extraordinary science".-History:...
Ezine The Citizen Scientist that Pianka had "endorsed the elimination of 90 percent of the human population" through a disease such as an airborne strain of the Ebola virus
Ebola virus
Ebola virus causes severe disease in humans and in nonhuman primates in the form of viral hemorrhagic fever. EBOV is a Select Agent, World Health Organization Risk Group 4 Pathogen , National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Category A Priority Pathogen,...
. Mims claimed that Pianka said the Earth would not survive unless its population was reduced by 90% suggesting that the planet would be "better off" if the human population were reduced and that a mutant strain of Ebola (which has up to a 90% mortality rate) would be the most efficient means. Mims' affiliate at the Discovery Institute
Discovery Institute
The Discovery Institute is a non-profit public policy think tank based in Seattle, Washington, best known for its advocacy of intelligent design...
, William Dembski
William A. Dembski
William Albert "Bill" Dembski is an American proponent of intelligent design, well known for promoting the concept of specified complexity...
, then informed the Department of Homeland Security that Pianka's speech may have been intended to foment bioterrorism
Bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form. For the use of this method in warfare, see biological warfare.-Definition:According to the...
. This resulted in the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
interviewing Pianka in Austin.
Pianka has stated that Mims took his statements out of context and that he was simply describing 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 Texas Academy, which hosted of the speech, released a statement asserting that "Many of Dr. Pianka's statements have been severely misconstrued and sensationalized."
Pianka has appeared on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-affiliate KXAN Austin
KXAN-TV
KXAN-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Austin, Texas. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 from a transmitter in the West Austin Antenna Farm north of West Lake Hills. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate KBVO and...
and "be on two cable talk shows Tuesday ... to try and clear his name". Pianka has posted an explanation on his University of Texas website (excerpt of longer statement):
"I have two grandchildren and I want them to inherit a stable Earth. But I fear for them. Humans have overpopulated the Earth and in the process have created an ideal nutritional substrate on which bacteria and viruses (microbes) will grow and prosper. We are behaving like bacteria growing on an agar plate, flourishing until natural limits are reached or until another microbe colonizes and takes over, using them as their resource. In addition to our extremely high population density, we are social and mobile, exactly the conditions that favor growth and spread of pathogenic (disease-causing) microbes. I believe it is only a matter of time until microbes once again assert control over our population, since we are unwilling to control it ourselves. This idea has been espoused by ecologists for at least four decades and is nothing new. People just don't want to hear it... I do not bear any ill will toward humanity. However, I am convinced that the world WOULD clearly be much better off without so many of us... We need to make a transition to a sustainable world. If we don't, nature is going to do it for us in ways of her own choosing. By definition, these ways will not be ours and they won't be much fun. Think about that."
As a consequence of the controversy, Pianka and members of the Texas Academy of Science have received death threats. According to Pianka, "His daughters are now worried about his and their safety, and says his life has been flip turned upside-down by 'right-wing fools.'"
Awards and accolades
Pianka was a 1978 Guggenheim Fellow, a 1981 American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
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 received the 2006 Distinguished Texas Scientist Award from the Texas Academy of Science. He and his research were featured in a wildlife documentary on monitor lizards — "Lizard Kings" — which premiered nationally on the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
NOVA
NOVA (TV series)
Nova is a popular science television series from the U.S. produced by WGBH Boston. It can be seen on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, and in more than 100 other countries...
series in October 2009.
Works
Pianka has produced over 100 scientific papers, many highly cited and influential, and a classic textbook, Evolutionary Ecology. He also writes for the general public; 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.Books:
- Pianka, Eric R. (1983), Evolutionary Ecology (Fourth Edition), ISBN 0-06-045216-1
- Pianka, Eric and Dennis King (2004), Varanoid Lizards of the World, Indiana University PressIndiana University PressIndiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. It was founded in 1950. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana....
. - Pianka, Eric and Laurie Vitt (2003), Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity, University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
.
Articles:
- Sweet, Samuel S. and Eric R. Pianka, "The Lizard Kings: Small Monitors Roam to the East of an Unseen Frontier; Mammals Roam to the West", Natural HistoryNatural HistoryNatural history is the scientific study of plants or animals.Natural History may also refer to:In science and medicine:* Natural History , Naturalis Historia, a 1st-century work by Pliny the Elder...
, November, 2003.
External links
- Pianka curriculum vitae
- Student reviews of one of Pianka's course @ UT.
- Transcript of Pianka's speech
- Transcript of Pianka's St. Edward's Speech March 31, 2006 comprehensive
- PBS Nova "Lizard Kings" webpage