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Featured Scientists
 Rüdiger Bieler, Ph.D.
Department of Zoology
Head and Curator, Invertebrates
Mollusks are one of the most diverse groups of marine invertebrates, including animals as different as the snail and the octopus. Zoologist Rüdiger Bieler’s research focuses on marine mollusks and especially on the diversity of mollusks in island groups such as the Florida Keys and offshore regions of Chile.
Many of his projects are collaborative efforts with Paula Mikkelsen, Ph.D., Field Museum Research Associate and Curator at the American Museum of Natural History. Bieler and Mikkelsen co-curated the traveling exhibit “Pearls” and are currently writing a book series on the mollusks of the Florida Keys, to be published by Princeton University Press.
Since 1994, the researchers have conducted an intensive survey of mollusks in and around the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. A 1995 draft management plan for the sanctuary had estimated that the area was home to 582 mollusk species. Bieler and Mikkelsen have nearly tripled that number by documenting more than 1,700 species. “This gave us an indication of how little we knew about the biodiversity in the area,” says Bieler.
As part of the National Science Foundation program, Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy (PEET), Bieler is involved with training students in research on Venus Clams, the largest group of marine bivalves with more than 500 species that include many that are the basis of the world’s clam fisheries. Students are gaining experience with important techniques such as field collecting, anatomical comparison, and DNA sequencing.
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