Geerat J. Vermeij

Geerat J. Vermeij is a Dutch-born paleoecologist and evolutionary biologist in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Davis.[1] He studies marine molluscs both as fossils and as living creatures. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1992,[2] and in 2000 was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.[3]

Geerat J. Vermeij
Born28 September 1946
Sappemeer
Alma materPrinceton University
Yale University
AwardsDaniel Giraud Elliot Medal (2000)
Paleontological Society Medal (2006)
Scientific career
FieldsPaleontology
Paleobiology
InstitutionsUniversity of California at Davis

Early life and education

Vermeij was born 28 September 1946 in Sappemeer, Netherlands. Blind from the age of three, he studied Braille at the Prins Alexander Stichting Boarding School in Huis Ter Heide.[4] He moved from The Netherlands to Nutley, New Jersey at age ten, and graduated from Nutley High School in 1965.[5][4] Since the age of ten, Vermeij wanted to be a conchologist.[6]

Vermeij graduated from Princeton University in 1968 and received his Ph.D. in biology and geology from Yale University in 1971.

Career

Vermeij studies coevolutionary relationships between predator and prey organisms, with a focus on marine mollusks.[1][6] His research argues that an important evolutionary mechanism is the process of escalation, which occurs when species adapt to, or are limited by, their competitors, predators, and parasites.[7]

In lieu of sight, Vermeij uses the sense of touch to better understand mollusk morphology.[4] Throughout his career, he has challenged the assumption that people with disabilities like blindness cannot conduct scientific research.

Bibliography
  • Evolution and Escalation: An Ecological History of Life[7]
  • A Natural History of Shells[8]
  • Privileged Hands: A Scientific Life[9]
  • Nature: An Economic History[10]
  • The Evolutionary World: How Adaptation Explains Everything from Seashells to Civilization[11] (ISBN 978-0312591083).

References
  1. Fong, Janice (2018-05-01). "Geerat J. Vermeij". UC Davis Earth and Planetary Sciences. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  2. "Blind Professor Receives Macarthur Award". Archived from the original on 2009-05-30. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
  3. "Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  4. "Vermeij | NCBYS". blindscience.org. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  5. 2003 Hall of Fame Inductee, Geerat J. Vermeij, Nutley Hall of Fame. Accessed November 9, 2019. "Geerat J. Vermeij is one of the world’s preeminent scientists in ecology, malacology and biology. Born in Holland, he came to America, lived in Nutley and graduated from Nutley High School in the Class of 1965."
  6. "Geerat Vermeij, Evolutionary Biologist". www.shapeoflife.org. 2014-01-22. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  7. J., Vermeij, Geerat (1987). Evolution and escalation : an ecological history of life. Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 0-691-08446-7. OCLC 230867068.
  8. Vermeij, Geerat J. (28 September 2021). A natural history of shells. ISBN 978-0-691-22924-9. OCLC 1240575354.
  9. J., Vermeij, Geerat (2013). Privileged hands : a scientific life. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-1-4668-1392-2. OCLC 872609113.
  10. J., Vermeij, Geerat (10 September 2006). Nature An Economic History. ISBN 978-0-691-12793-4. OCLC 956884588.
  11. J., Vermeij, Geerat (2013). The evolutionary world : how adaptation explains everything from seashells to civilization. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-4299-2577-8. OCLC 865095038.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.