Robert Price Higgins - Aspects of his life and his contributions to meiobenthic research (1932–2022)

Birger Neuhaus*, Fernando Pardos, Volker Storch, Reinhardt M. Kristensen

*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

Abstract

The scientific life of Robert P. Higgins was devoted to meiofauna, microscopically small animals living in aquatic sediments from the intertidal to hadal depths worldwide. He focused on the taxonomy, life-history, and ecology of the marine taxa Kinorhyncha, Tardigrada, and Priapulida and co-discovered the phylum Loricifera. He improved the methods for studying meiofauna and contributed significantly to spreading knowledge about these animals. Aspects of his life are described and lists of his publications, taxa described, contributions to science, and honours received are provided.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftZootaxa
Vol/bind5301
Udgave nummer2
Sider (fra-til)219-245
Antal sider27
ISSN1175-5326
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
International Indian Ocean Expedition, participant 1964 Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center, Advisory Committee on Annelids and Helminths, member 1964–1969 Southeastern Pacific Biological Oceanographic Program, participant 1966 Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, associate editor 1966–1979, member of board of reviewers 1989– U.S. National Correspondant to the Cooperative Investigations of the Mediterranean, 1972–1975 National Research Council Research Associates Evaluation Panel, member 1974–1978 and 1985– Baseline Procedure for Studying the Ecology of Deep-Sea Meiobenthos, University of South Carolina and National Science Foundation, participant 1974 Puerto Rico Trench Expedition, Institute of Marine Biomedical Research of the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, participant 1976 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EPA Innovative Research Program, member of review panel, 1979 and 1983 American Institute of Biological Sciences, council member 1979– American Zoologist, member of editorial board 1979–1982 Hispaniola Cruise, Morning Watch Research, participant 1980 Academica Sinica, China, invited lecturer and researcher 1981 Danish-U.S. Greenland Meiofaunal Expedition, University of Copenhagen, participant 1981 Arabian American Oil Company, Saudi Arabian Tetra Tech Ltd., Northern Area (Arabian Gulf) Marine Environmental Baseline and Impact Assessment Project, consultant 1982 Academica Sinica, China, invited lecturer and researcher 1987 Biological Investigations of the Faeroe Banks, BIOFAR, participant 1990

Funding Information:
several grants from the Graduate Research Council of Wake Forest University, Society of the Sigma Xi-RESA, National Science Foundation (NSF), Smithsonian Fluid Research Fund, Smithsonian Research Opportunities

Funding Information:
Kim Higgins, Amherst, Massachusetts, Katie Ahlfeld and Karen Reed, National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C., Smithsonian Institution, Drs Andrey V. Adrianov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Jason Dunlop, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, and James R. Garey, University of South Florida, kindly provided photographs and information.

Funding Information:
Bob was recognised as an outstanding student early in his career by receiving from the National Science Foundation the Summer Fellowship in 1958 for Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Washington; the James B. Duke Fellowship for 1959–1961 from Duke University; and a sabbatical as resident systematist in the Systematics-Ecology Program and Boston University Marine Program in 1968 at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. He received the Outstanding Undergraduate Award from the Phi Sigma Biological Society in 1956 and the Outstanding Graduate Award from the same society in 1958. At the end of his official employment period in 1993, he received an Honorary Doctor of Science from the University of Copenhagen.

Funding Information:
Fund, Smithsonian Marine Station at Link Port, Smithsonian Arctic Research Fund, and Sumner Gerard Foundation 1964, NSF, $25,000, A systematic study of Indian Ocean Kinorhyncha 1965, NASA, co-applicant H. Morowitz, Yale University, USA, $32,000, Studies in tardigrade cryptobiosis 1968, NSF, $22,323, Systematic studies of Kinorhyncha 1969–1974, Smithsonian Foreign Currency Program Grants, $1,250,000, Mediterranena Marine Sorting Center 1986, Suzanne Liebers Erickson Danish Exchange Program, co-applicant R.M. Kristensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, $1,650, Cooperative research in kinorhynch, loriciferan, and tardigrade systematics and morphology 1987, NATO Grant for Collaborative Research, co-applicant V. Storch, University of Heidelberg, Germany, $4,900, Phylogenetic studies of the Kinorhyncha and Priapulida 1987, Hotung Foundation, $10,000, Taxonomic study of the Kinorhyncha of peninsular Thailand and Malaysia 1989, Suzanne Liebers Erickson Danish Exchange Program, co-applicant R.M. Kristensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, $2,660, Cooperative research kinorhynch, loriciferan, and tardigrade systematics and morphology 1989, NATO Grant for Collaborative Research, co-applicant V. Storch, University of Heidelberg, Germany, $6,500, Phylogenetic studies of the Kinorhyncha and Priapulida 1996, NATO Grant for Collaborative Research, co-applicant F. Pardos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid,

Funding Information:
Cryptogamic Herbarium, University of Colorado, Colorado, research assistant 1954–1955 University of Colorado Museum, museum assistant summer 1956 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, biological aid (GS-5) summer 1957 University of Colorado, teaching fellow 1956–1958 University of Colorado, North Carolina, extension at Denvery, instructor in biology 1957–1958 Duke University, graduate teaching assistant 1958–1959 National Science Foundation, Summer Fellowship at Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washinton, Washington, 1958 Duke University Marine Laboratory, teaching fellowship 1958–1959 Duke University, NSF summer fellowship for graduate teaching assistants 1959 James B. Duke Fellowship, Duke University, 1959–1961 Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, assistant professor and associate professor 1961–1968 Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Natural History, Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Washington, D.C., consulting zoologist, joint appointment with Wake Forest University 1966–1968 Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, sabbatical as resident systematist in the Systematics-Ecology Program and Boston University Marine Program, associate professor and director 1968 Smithsonian Institution, 1968–1993 Office of Environmental Sciences, oceanographer (GS-14) 1968 Mediterranean Marine Sorting Center, Kherredine/ Carthage, Tunisia, director, and U. S. Embassy, Tunis, 1969–1971 Oceanography and Limnology Program, director (GS-15) 1971–1974 Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center, senior scientist 1974–1978 International Environmental Science Program, acting director 1974 National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., Department of Invertebrate Zoology, curator 1978–1993 University of South Carolina, research associate of Belle W. Baruch Institute for Coastal Marine Biology and Coastal Research 1974– Auburn University, Alabama, adjunct professor of zoology 1977–1979 University of North Carolina, Wilmington, adjunct professor of biology 1977–1988 Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina, adjunct professor of biology 1989 University of North Carolina, Asheville, adjunct research professor of biology University of North Carolina, Charlotte, distinguished adjunct professor of biology

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