Robert Ulanowicz

Robert Ulanowicz

Robert E. Ulanowicz (born September 17, 1943 in Baltimore) is an American theoretical ecologist and philosopher who is best known for his search for a "unified theory of ecology". He is Professor of Theoretical Ecology at the University of Maryland's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory. Ulanowicz received both his BS and PhD in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1964 and 68, respectively. Dr. Ulanowicz currently resides in Gainesville, Florida.

Overview

Ulanowicz uses techniques from information theory and thermodynamics in order to study the organization of the flows of energy and nutrients within ecosystems. Although his ideas have been primarily applied in ecology, many of his concepts are abstract and have been applied to other areas in which flow networks arise, such as economics.

Although Ulanowicz initially began his career with some substantial successes in modeling of ecological systems using differential equations, he soon began to reach the limits of this approach. Realizing that any ecosystem is a Complex system, he decided to move away from what he saw as the inappropriate use of a reductionist approach, and instead began to work towards development of theoretical measures of the ecosystem as a whole, such as ascendency.

Works & Recognition

Ulanowicz has authored or co-authored over a hundred articles in theoretical ecology and related areas of philosophy, especially those dealing with autocatalysis and causality. He has authored two books and is working on a third. [ [http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/CQ/V04N3/side4/ Profile: A Scientist for All Seasons] Chesapeake Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 3]

*"Ecology: The Ascendant Perspective", Columbia University Press (1997) (ISBN: 0231108281) - Written for a more general audience
*"Growth and Development - Ecosystems phenomenology", Springer (1986) (ISBN: 0387962654) - A more technical exposition of Ulanowicz's ideas

Ulanowicz was named the recipient of the 2007 Ilya Prigogine Medal for outstanding research in ecological systems. [ [http://www.wessex.ac.uk/conferences/2007/eco07/ ECOSUD 2007: Sixth International Conference on Ecosystems and Sustainable Development] ] He participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007. [ [http://www.stockexchangeofvisions.org/speaker.php?id=49 Stock Exchange of Visions: Robert E. Ulanowicz, Ecologist] ]

References

External links

* [http://cbl.umces.edu/~ulan/ Robert E. Ulanowicz's Home Page]
* [http://www.stockexchangeofvisions.org/speaker.php?id=49 Stock Exchange Of Visions: Visions of Robert E. Ulanowicz (Video Interviews)]
* [http://isol.alachuaclerk.org/ Alachua County Clerk of Courts]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Theoretical ecology — Mathematical models developed in theoretical ecology predict complex food webs are less stable than simple webs.[1]:75–77[2]:64 …   Wikipedia

  • Relational order theories — A number of independent lines of research depict the universe, including the social organization of living creatures which is of particular interest to humans, as systems, or networks, of relationships. Relational systems, or regimes, are often… …   Wikipedia

  • Reductionism — Descartes held that non human animals could be reductively explained as automata De homine, 1662. Reductionism can mean either (a) an approach to understanding the nature of complex things by reducing them to the interactions of their parts, or… …   Wikipedia

  • Liste des philosophes américains — Cette liste des philosophes américains est non exhaustive, et regroupe toutes les personnes ayant pratiqué la philosophie durant plusieurs années de leurs vies aux USA. Sommaire A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Voir aussi …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ecosystem — An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro organisms(biotic factors) in an area functioning together with all of the non living physical (abiotic) factors of the environment.Christopherson, RW (1996) Geosystems: An …   Wikipedia

  • Entropy (order and disorder) — Boltzmann s molecules (1896) shown at a rest position in a solid In thermodynamics, entropy is commonly associated with the amount of order, disorder, and/or chaos in a thermodynamic system. This stems from Rudolf Clausius 1862 assertion that any …   Wikipedia

  • Complexity — For other uses, see Complexity (disambiguation). In general usage, complexity tends to be used to characterize something with many parts in intricate arrangement. The study of these complex linkages is the main goal of complex systems theory. In… …   Wikipedia

  • Autocatalysis — A single chemical reaction is said to have undergone autocatalysis, or be autocatalytic, if the reaction product is itself the catalyst for that reaction. A set of chemical reactions can be said to be collectively autocatalytic if a number of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of ecologists — This is a list of ecologists, in alphabetical order by surname. A D* [http://www.wku.edu/ smithch/chronob/ADAM1873.htm Charles Christopher Adams] (USA) *Warder Clyde Allee (USA) * [http://www.wku.edu/ smithch/chronob/ANDR1907.htm Herbert Groves… …   Wikipedia

  • Life — For other uses, see Life (disambiguation). Life (Biota / Vitae / Eobionti) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”