Hanski, Ilkka 1953-

PERSONAL:

Born February 14, 1953, in Finland. Education: University of Helsinki, undergraduate degree, 1976; University of Oxford, D.Phil., 1979.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Metapopulation Research Group, Division of Population Biology, Department of Ecology and Systematics, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1), Helsinki, Finland; fax: +358-9-191-57694. E-mail—ilkka.hanski@helsinki.fi.

CAREER:

Zoologist, ecologist, educator, and writer. Academy of Finland, Helsinki, junior research scientist, 1981-87, senior research scientist, 1988, 1991-92, research professor, 1996-2006; University of Helsinki, Helsinki, acting professor of zoology, 1988-1991, professor of zoology, 1993—. Has served on numerous foundation and scientific advisory boards.

MEMBER:

Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina, Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Academia Europaea.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Elected member of Academia Europaea, 1998; President's Gold Medal, British Ecological Society, 1999; Prize in Terrestrial Ecology, International Ecology Institute, 1999; Blazan Prize for Ecological Sciences, Fondazione Internazionale Balzan, 2000; elected foreign member of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 2000; Sewall Wright Award, American Society of Naturalists, 2001; elected member of Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, 2001; elected foreign member of Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina, 2002; Finnish Decoration, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun I Luokan Ritarimerkki, 2003; Finnish Science Prize, 2007.

WRITINGS:

Distributional Ecology and Abundance of Dung and Carrion-Feeding Beetles (Scarabaeidae) in Tropical Rain Forests in Sarawak, Borneo, Finnish Zoological Publishing Board (Helsinki, Finland), 1983.

(Editor, with Yves Cambefort) Dung Beetle Ecology, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 1991.

(Editor, with Michael E. Gilpin) Metapopulation Biology: Ecology, Genetics, and Evolution, Academic Press (San Diego, CA), 1997.

Metapopulation Ecology, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1999.

(Editor, with Oscar E. Gaggiotti) Ecology, Genetics, and Evolution of Metapopulations, Elsevier (Burlington, MA), 2004.

(Editor and contributor, with Paul R. Ehrlich) On the Wings of Checkerspots: A Model System for Population Biology, New Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2004.

The Shrinking World: Ecological Consequences of Habitat Loss, introduction by Otto Kinne, International Ecology Institute (Oldendorf/Luhe, Germany), 2005.

Author of more than 200 scientific articles. Also associate editor of Theoretical Population Biology, 1989-97; member of international editoral board of Acta Theriologica, 1990—; associate editor of Oecologia, 1991—; associate editor of American Naturalist, 1996—; member of editorial board of Journal of Insect Conservation, 1997-2000; associate editor of Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 2000—.

SIDELIGHTS:

Ilkka Hanski is one of the world's leading scientists in ecology and is especially known for his research on theoretical and experimental population biology. He is an expert in metapopulation biology, which focuses on large populations divided into several distinct individual populations. Hanski is interested in how the survival and growth of these large populations depends on the extinction risk of the subpopulations and their recolonization. He has authored, coauthored, or edited numerous scientific papers and several books on his areas of interest. For example, Hanski is the editor, with Yves Cambefort, of Dung Beetle Ecology and, with Michael E. Gilpin, of Metapopulation Biology: Ecology, Genetics, and Evolution. The latter book was called "an excellent overview of the current state of metapopulation studies" by Science contributor Peter F. Brussard.

Hanski is a contributor to and the editor, with Paul R. Ehrlich, of On the Wings of Checkerspots: A Model System for Population Biology. The book features papers from scientists who have used the checkerspot butterflies as a successful model system for population biology studies. Coeditor Ehrlich's research with these butterflies dating back to the 1960s helped establish an integrated discipline of population biology, and Hanski's work with the butterflies has been instrumental in establishing the field of metapopulation biology. The various essays by fifteen contributing scientists cover a wide area of research, from an overview of the taxonomy and ecology of these butterflies to implications for conducting research on model systems in population biology. The authors also address issues concerning conservation. "The editors and contributors have managed quite an achievement in bringing this work together with an overview of many aspects of checkerspot biology," wrote Chris D. Jiggins in Science.

In his 2005 book The Shrinking World: Ecological Consequences of Habitat Loss, the author examines the impact of human activities on natural habitats. In the process he presents the current knowledge available concerning the consequences of both the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats and presents data showing that a certain amount of diversity of habitats is fundamental for the continued evolution of life as we know it. Furthermore, he points out that this diversity of natural habitats is also important for the planet's ability to support human life. The author also addresses important conservation issues and policies. Noting that the book sums up the author's research into metapopulations, Susan Harrison, in her review of The Shrinking World in the American Scientist added: "This book differs from his previous ones, however, in ranging far beyond a consideration of metapopulations. Hanski examines the topic of habitat loss broadly … using it as an organizing theme with which to weave together multiple threads, some highly academic and others much more personal. The book contains fresher and more concise discussions of many basic concepts in population, community and landscape ecology than I have seen in standard textbooks."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Scientist, January 1, 2006, Susan Harrison, "Modeling Loss," review of The Shrinking World: Ecological Consequences of Habitat Loss, p. 82.

Choice, April, 1997, review of Metapopulation Biology: Ecology, Genetics, and Evolution, p. 1364; September, 2004, M. Gochfeld, review of On the Wings of Checkerspots: A Model System for Population Biology, p. 132.

Ecology, October, 1997, Chris Ray, review of Metapopulation Biology, p. 2270.

Heredity, January, 1998, Calvin Dytham, review of Metapopulation Biology, p. 133.

Nature, January 23, 1992, Malcolm Coe, review of Dung Beetle Ecology, p. 309; June 24, 1999, Camille Parmesan, review of MetapopulationEcology, p. 747; October 28, 2004, Norman Myers, "Population Biology on the Wing," review of On the Wings of Checkerspots, p. 1040.

Quarterly Review of Biology, March, 2001, Hugh Possingham, review of Metapopulation Ecology, p. 108; March, 2005, Owen T. Lewis, review of On the Wings of Checkerspots, p. 122; March 2006, Jeffrey Yule, review of The Shrinking World, p. 79.

Science, November 8, 1991, Bernd Heinrich, review of Dung Beetle Ecology, p. 873; July 25, 1997, Peter F. Brussard, review of Metapopulation Biology, p. 527; July 2, 1999, review of Metapopulation Ecology, p. 56; September 24, 2004, Chris D. Jiggins, "A Checkered History," review of On the Wings of Checkerspots, p. 1913.

SciTech Book News, March, 1997, review of Metapopulation Biology, p. 35.

ONLINE

Finish Science & Technology Information Service Web site,http://www.research.fi/en/ (February 25, 2008), "The Finnish Science Prize to Academy Professor Ilkka Hanski."

Ilkka Hanski Home Page,http://www.helsinki.fi/~ihanski (February 25, 2008).