Steven Amstrup

Last updated
Steven Carl Amstrup
Born (1950-02-04) February 4, 1950 (age 73)
Alma mater University of Washington (1972)
University of Idaho (1975)
University of Alaska Fairbanks (1995)
Awards Indianapolis Prize (2012)
Bambi Award (2012)
Scientific career
Fields Zoology, polar bear research
Institutions United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Geological Survey
University of Wyoming
Thesis Movements, distribution, and population dynamics of polar bears in the Beaufort Sea  (1995)

Steven C. Amstrup (born February 4, 1950) is an American zoologist who studies bears, especially polar bears. He is the 2012 recipient of the Indianapolis Prize. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Steven Amstrup was born in Fargo, North Dakota, where he took an interest in bears at an early age. [2] He attended the University of Washington as an undergraduate, receiving his bachelor's degree in forestry in 1972. [3] In 1975, he graduated from the University of Idaho with a master's degree in wildlife management. He studied black bears in central Idaho for his master's thesis. [2] He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1995. [3]

In 1975, he began working for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in Wyoming [2] where he studied pronghorn antelope and sharp-tailed grouse. In 1980 he moved to Alaska where he took over the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's fledgling Polar Bear Research Project. In 1996 Amstrup's research position was transferred to the United States Geological Survey. During his 30-years in Alaska, he studied polar bear ecology, primarily in the Beaufort Sea. [4] In 2007, Amstrup's team of scientists prepared nine reports leading to the 2008 listing, by United States Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, of polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. [2] In 2010, he published an article in Nature finding that even if climate change led to complete melting of the polar ice packs, the ice could return if global temperatures subsequently cooled. [4] [5] He has taught at the University of Wyoming as an adjunct professor since 2006. [6]

His contributions to polar bear conservation were honored in 2012, when the Indianapolis Zoo named him the winner of their biennial Indianapolis Prize. [1] Later the same year, he was presented with an Our Earth Bambi Award in Düsseldorf. [7]

Activism

After retiring in 2010, Amstrup became the chief scientist for Polar Bears International. [2] Having observed the effect of climate change on polar bears and their Arctic habitat during his career as a researcher, he now works as an advocate for polar bears and promotes climate change mitigation. [4] [8]

Personal life

Amstrup is married. He and his wife are building an energy-efficient house in northeast Washington. [4]

Related Research Articles

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The polar bear is a hypercarnivorous species of bear. Its native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean and its surrounding seas and landmasses, which includes the northernmost regions of North America and Eurasia. It is the largest extant bear species, as well as the largest extant land carnivore. A boar weighs around 350–700 kg (770–1,540 lb), while a sow is about half that size. Although it is the sister species of the brown bear, it has evolved to occupy a narrower ecological niche, with many body characteristics adapted for cold temperatures, for moving across snow, ice and open water, and for hunting seals, which make up most of its diet. Although most polar bears are born on land, they spend most of their time on the sea ice. Their scientific name means "maritime bear" and derives from this fact. Polar bears hunt their preferred food of seals from the edge of sea ice, often living off fat reserves when no sea ice is present. Because of their dependence on the sea ice, polar bears are classified as marine mammals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arctic National Wildlife Refuge</span> Protected area in Alaska

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States on traditional Gwich'in lands. It consists of 19,286,722 acres (78,050.59 km2) in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest national wildlife refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is administered from offices in Fairbanks. ANWR includes a large variety of species of plants and animals, such as polar bears, grizzly bears, black bears, moose, caribou, wolves, eagles, lynx, wolverine, marten, beaver and migratory birds, which rely on the refuge.

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The Kodiak bear, also known as the Kodiak brown bear, sometimes the Alaskan brown bear, inhabits the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago in southwest Alaska. It is the largest recognized subspecies or population of the brown bear, and one of the two largest bears alive today, the other being the polar bear. They are also considered by some to be a population of grizzly bears.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Polar bear champion Amstrup wins prestigious animal conservation award". Alaska Dispatch. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Davenport, Paula M. "Bears on the Brink". University of Idaho. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Prize-Winning Polar Bear Researcher Steven Amstrup Here for September 30 Lecture". DePauw University. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Zipp, Yvonne (19 October 2012). "Steven Amstrup says it's not too late to save polar bears – and ourselves". The Christian Science Monitor . Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  5. "Scientists: It's not too late yet for polar bears". The Washington Times . 15 December 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  6. "UW Adjunct Professor Steven Amstrup Wins World's Leading Animal Conservation Award". University of Wyoming. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  7. "PBI Scientist Receives Bambi Award". Polar Bears International. 26 November 2012. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  8. Stromberg, Joseph (14 June 2012). "Interview With Indianapolis Prize Winner and Polar Bear Researcher Steven Amstrup". Smithsonian . Retrieved 24 October 2012.