Tim Berra (biologist)

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Dr. Tim M. Berra is Academy Professor and Professor Emeritus of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University.^[1] He received the Ph.D. in Biology from Tulane University in 1969. He is a three-time recipient of Fulbright Fellowships to Australia in 1969,1979, and 2009. He taught at the University of Papua New Guinea before joining the faculty of OSU in 1972. Over the last 50 years he has spent over 11 years doing fieldwork in Australia.

He is the author of over 85 scientific papers and 8 books including Evolution and the Myth of Creationism published by Stanford University Press in 1990. His book A Natural History of Australia (Academic Press, 1998) features 200 of his color photographs, 220 line drawings and maps, and over 500 references. Freshwater Fish Distribution featuring 169 maps, 324 fish drawings and 1,700 references was published by University of Chicago Press in 2007. Charles Darwin: The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man, was published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2009 and features 60 b/w illustrations and 16 color plates. It describes the life of Darwin and his significance to western thought. A sequel to that book, Darwin & his Children: His Other Legacy, was published by Oxford University Press in 2013. It examines the lives of Darwin's 10 children from birth to death. Dr. Berra's latest book, Bourbon: What the Educated Drinker Should Know, was published in spring 2019 by Acclaim Press and describes bourbon's history and the bourbon making process from start to finish. The unique format of the book is lavishly illustrated with color photographs by the author.

In 1992 Berra was visiting professor at the University of Concepción in Chile, and in 1996 he was visiting professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He took early retirement from The Ohio State University in July 1995 to devote full-time to research and writing.

Dr. Berra is the former editor of The Ohio Journal of Science and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium where he also served on the Conservation and Collection Management Committee. He was also the ichthyological book review editor of Copeia, the journal of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. He resigned these positions at the end of 2000 to pursue fieldwork supported by the National Geographic Society and the Columbus Zoo in Australia in 2001.

He is a member of the Board of Governors of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists and Research Associate at the Museums and Art Galleries of the Northern Territory in Darwin, Australia where he spent most of 2001 working on the life history of the nurseryfish. He returned to Darwin in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2016 to continue his nurseryfish research. He was keynote speaker at the bicentennial celebrations of Charles Darwin's birthday at Charles Darwin University in Sept. 2009. He is University Professorial Fellow at Charles Darwin University and a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Dr. Berra's paper in BioScience (May 2010) on inbreeding in the Darwin/Wedgwood families attracted international media attention including a story in the NY Times and NPR interview. Preserved scientific specimens collected by Prof. Berra are housed at the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) in Washington, D.C. and were the subject of an extensive article in the Columbus Dispatch 27 September 2009. In December 2014 The Ohio State University awarded Dr. Berra the title of Academy Professor in recognition of his on-going research after achieving emeritus status. The Australian-American Fulbright Commission profiled Berra's career in their flagship magazine, Minds and Hearts, 1 March 2017, p 12–15. Berra is an Executive Bourbon Steward and member of the Stave and Thief Society, a bourbon certification program of the Kentucky Distiller's Association.

References[]

http://u.osu.edu/berra.1/