Discover

'Bernd Heinrich', Ph.D (b. April 19, 1940, Poland), is a professor emeritus in the biology department at the University of Vermont and is the author of a number of books about nature writing, behavior,biology, ecology, and evolution. Heinrich has made major contributions to the study of insect physiology and behavior, and bird behavior. In addition to other publications, Heinrich has written over ten books, mostly related to his research examining the physiological and behavioral adaptations of animals to their physical environments. However, he has also written books that include more of his personal reflections on nature.

Contents

Education and Early Career

Research

Ultra-Marathon Career

Selected Publications

External links

Education and Early Career

Heinrich earned his Ph.D in 1970 from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1971, he accepted a position at University of California, Berkeley where he became Professor of Entomology. He he stayed until 1980. Between 1976 and 1977 he was Guggenheim and Harvard Fellow. In 1980 Heinrich accepted a position as a Professor of Zoology/Biology at the University of Vermont. From 1988 to 1989 he was a von Humboldt Fellow.

Research

In ''Bumblebee Economics'', Heinrich researched mechanisms of temperature regulation and energy economics in bees, showing that bees maintain a body temperature above the ambient environmental temperature, and are heterothermic.
In ''Ravens in Winter'', Heinrich studied the social organization of ravens with a view to understanding how and why unrelated individuals share and/or defend intermittently plentiful food sources.
More recently, in ''Mind of the Raven'', he has concentrated on exploring cognition in ravens, including the possibility that some of their behavior is derived from conscious choice. In ''Mind of the Raven'', Heinrich details his observations of raven behavior, which includes such complex activities as strong pair-bonding, use of tools, elaborate vocal communication, and play. In one test that he devised, Heinrich discovered that different ravens came up with different solutions to retrieve meat that was tied to a string. The book won the John Burroughs Medal for distinguished natural history writing.

Ultra-Marathon Career

Heinrich has won numerous long distance running events wins, and set a number of U.S. ultra-marathon records throughout the 1980s, primarily as a master's division competitor. In 1984, he set a short-lived but outright U.S. 100 mile record for any age, posting a spectacular time of 12:27:01. The mark, however, was eclipsed only three weeks later by another ultra-marathon legend, Stu Mittleman.
In ''Why We Run: A Natural History'', Heinrich reflected on the sport of running as a scientist, and recounted his performance in the 100 kilometer race that ushered in his ultra-marathon career. Originally titled ''Racing the Antelope'', one of the arguments of the book is that we evolved to be ultra-distance runners that could run down even the swiftest prey, through a combination of endurance, intelligence, and the desire to win.

Selected Publications

★ ''Bumblebee Economics'' (1979)

★ ''In a Patch of Fireweed'' (1984)

★ ''Insect Thermoregulation'' (1981)

★ ''One Man's Owl'' (1987)

★ ''Ravens in Winter'' (1989)

★ ''Owl in the House: A Naturalist's Diary'' (1990)

★ ''Hot-Blooded Insects: Strategies and Mechanisms of Insect Thermoregulation''(1993), ISBN 978-0-674-40838-8

★ ''Year in the Maine Woods'' (1994)

★ ''Thermal Warriors: Strategies of Insect Survival'' (1996), ISBN 978-0-674-88340-6

★ ''Trees in My Forest'' (1998), ISBN 978-0-06-092942-8

★ ''Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds'' (1999), ISBN 978-0-06-093063-9

★ ''Racing the Antelope: What Animals Can Teach Us About Running and Life'' (2001)

★ ''Why We Run: A Natural History'', HarperCollins, (2002), ISBN 978-0-06-095870-1

★ ''The Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival'' (2003), ISBN 978-0-06-095737-7

★ ''The Geese of Beaver Bog'' (2004)

★ ''The Snoring Bird: My Family's Journey Through a Century of Biology'' (2007). ISBN 978-0-06-074215-7

External links

★ PBS.org - 'ask the scientists: Bernd Heinrich', PBS

★ UTA.edu - ''why we run'' (book review), Tim Morris (October 27, 2003)

★ UVM.edu - Bernd Heinrich's University of Vermont faculty webpage

★ Whole Terrain link to Heinrich's articles published in Whole Terrain