Joseph Heller (zoologist)

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Joseph A. Heller
Prof. Joseph Heller zoologist - Hebrew University Jerusalem.JPG
Prof Joseph Heller Zoologist-Malacologist, faculty of Science, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Born (1941-04-10) April 10, 1941 (age 83)
Sydney,Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia
NationalityIsraeli
Occupation(s)Zoologist, Malacologist

Joseph Alexander Heller (born April 10, 1941 in Sydney, Australia) is an Israeli zoologist-malacologist. Heller is an Associate Professor Emeritus at the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior in the Silverman Institute of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Contents

Heller immigrated to Israel in 1949. He received his B.Sc. in Life Science; Zoology and Microbiology in 1965, MSc in Zoology in 1968 and his PhD in 1972 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His dissertation thesis is titled "Studies on the systematics distribution and ecology of the landsnail Buliminus in Israel". [1]

Heller was a visiting scientist at the University of Liverpool, University of Bristol, University of Cape Town, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He published 4 books and over 100 articles. [2] His books are the first ever on the land snails of Israel and on marine molluscs of the land of Israel.

Research fields

Heller's cardinal studies concern the taxonomy, biogeography and reproductive biology of gastropods, of Israel and in general. Natural history of recent and fossil terrestrial and aquatic gastropods in various aspects such as resistance to heat and desiccation. Research results in developing a new bio-geographic methodology for modeling faunal responses to climatic gradients. Heller evolved and set priorities for planning strategies of conservation of terrestrial invertebrate faunas. [3] [4]

Academic activities

Since 1979, Heller was appointed as an Academic curator of the National Molluscs Collection at the National Natural History Collections at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. [5] and holds this position till present. He participates in the Committee for Hebrew terms in Zoology and Biology at the Academy of the Hebrew Language and member in the Fauna Committee of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. As a veteran scientist, Heller was editor in chief of The Israel Journal of Zoology in the years 1989 -1990. During his career at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Heller was elected Head of the Department of Zoology. For his genuine research, decades of activities in the scientific community in general and in designing the scientific education in Israel, Heller was awarded in 2010 as an Honorary Member of the Zoological Society of Israel.

Notable publications

Related Research Articles

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<i>Helix</i> (gastropod) Genus of gastropods

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhytididae</span> Family of gastropods

Rhytididae is a taxonomic family of medium-sized predatory air-breathing land snails, carnivorous terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Rhytidoidea.

<i>Helix lucorum</i> Species of gastropod

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<i>Truncatella guerinii</i> Species of gastropod

Truncatella guerinii is a species of very small land snail that lives at the edge of the sea, a gastropod mollusk in the family Truncatellidae.

<i>Vallonia pulchella</i> Species of gastropod

Vallonia pulchella, common name the lovely vallonia, is a species of very small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Valloniidae.

Opeas hannense, common name the dwarf awlsnail, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Achatinidae.

George Alan Solem, known professionally as Alan Solem, was an American malacologist, a biologist who studied mollusks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto Franz von Möllendorff</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinz Steinitz</span> Israeli marine biologist and herpetologist

Heinz Steinitz was a senior Israeli marine biologist and herpetologist, Professor and Chairman of the Department of zoology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He laid the foundation for research and teaching in marine biology and oceanography in Israel. In 1968 he founded the Marine Biology Laboratory of the Hebrew University near Eilat, serving as its first director. He also served as a founding member of the Zoological Society of Israel and a co-founder of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

This outline is provided as an overview of, and organized list of articles relevant to, the subject of gastropods :

References

  1. ↑ "Identification". Merhav.nli.org.il. 1994-11-06. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  2. ↑ "Joseph Heller". Academic Research, Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  3. ↑ "Researcher Curriculum Vitea Hebrew University Jerusalem". Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  4. ↑ האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים - התוכנית ללימודי הסביבה (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-06-18.
  5. ↑ "National Collections Natural History". Archived from the original on 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
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