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Dolph Schluter
Born (1955-05-22) May 22, 1955 (age 70)
Citizenship Canadian
Alma mater
Awards Darwin–Wallace Medal (2014)
Darwin Medal (2021)
Crafoord Prize (2023)
Scientific career
Institutions University of British Columbia
Thesis Diets, distributions and morphology of galapagos ground finches: the importance of food supply and interspecific competition. (1983)
Doctoral advisor Peter Grant

Dolph Schluter (born May 22, 1955) is a Canadian scientist. He is a professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of British Columbia. He studies how living things change over time.

Professor Schluter is a top researcher in a field called adaptive radiation. This is when many new species quickly develop from one common ancestor. He currently studies how new species form in a small fish called the three-spined stickleback.

He earned his first degree in Biology from the University of Guelph in 1977. Later, he received his PhD in Zoology from the University of Michigan in 1983. Both of his degrees focused on Ecology and Evolution.

What Dolph Schluter Studies

Dolph Schluter's early work looked at Darwin's finches. These are famous birds from the Galapagos Islands. He studied how their bodies changed over time to help them survive. His research was even featured in a popular science book.

He has written important books about how species change and develop. One of his books, The Ecology of Adaptive Radiation, was published in 2000. He also co-wrote The Analysis of Biological Data.

How New Species Appear

In 2023, Dolph Schluter won a very important award called the Crafoord Prize. The award recognized his amazing work. It stated that he showed how Charles Darwin's ideas about natural selection are true.

His studies on finches and stickleback fish have taught us a lot. They help us understand how new species come into existence. This is a key part of understanding life on Earth.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Dolph Schluter has received many honors for his scientific work.

  • In 1999, he became a member of the Royal Society of London. This is a very old and respected group of scientists.
  • In 2001, he was also chosen as a member of the Royal Society of Canada.
  • In 2017, he became a Foreign Fellow of the US National Academy of Sciences.
  • In 2021, he was made a Member of the Order of British Columbia. This is a special honor from his home province.
  • In 2023, he received the Crafoord Prize. This award recognized his "revolutionary studies" on finches and sticklebacks. These studies helped us learn how new species are formed.
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