Meet the Scientist

Name: Philip Willink, Ph.D.
Position/Title: Assistant Collections Manager, Fishes
Department: Zoology

1. What do you study related to biodiversity (what are your research questions, what organisms do you work on)?

I am interested in the discovery of new species of fishes, principally those in South and Central America. For example, I recently described a new species of bloodfin tetra, Aphyocharax yekwanae Willink, Chernoff, and Machado-Allison 2003, from Venezuela, in which the posterior half of the body is a brilliant red color. It has only been found in the upstream portion of the Rio Caura above Salto Para, a 40 meter high waterfall. On our expeditions to the Amazon, Orinoco, and Paraguay Rivers, close to 10% of the species we collect are new to science. I am also interested in how fish communities change over time. For example, I am currently studying Wolf Lake, which is southeast of Chicago, Illinois. By using historical records, I have been able to reconstruct the lake's fish communities over the past 100 years. Furthermore, the changes in species composition can be correlated with human development in the region and the subsequent impacts on Wolf Lake. This project will be expanded to include other streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes in the Chicago region.

2. How do you study biodiversity (for example, what technological tools and methodologies do you use in your research)?

Fieldwork is the first step in how I study biodiversity. Using nets, traps, fishing poles, etc., we catch fishes, identify them, and keep detailed records on where and when we collected them. Depending upon the circumstances, we may then release them. Others are preserved and stored in museums around the world, including The Field Museum. I also make extensive use of specimens already in museum collections. One can search the shelves and discover that a particular species was present in a particular area at a particular time. It is possible to figure out what species of fishes lived together in a specific area and/or at a specific time.

3. Where do you study biodiversity?

South and Central America (i.e., Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru, Brasil) and the midwest United States of America.

4. How might your research have implications for biological conservation?

The raw data for biological conservation is the determination of what species live where. It is therefore critical to describe unknown species, preferably before their habitat is significantly modified by humans, and certainly before they go extinct. The expeditions to South and Central America that I have participated in provide specimens that are used in species descriptions. We also provide data on the number of species in a given region(s) and/or habitat(s), as well as a subjective appraisal of the "health" of the area. Based on all this information, we make research and conservation recommendations that are distributed to politicians, scientists, landowners, etc.

Issues concerning habitat modification and restoration are rampant throughout the midwest United States. Knowledge of the underlying biology is critical when making decisions relevant to these issues. Recreating the history of fish community changes provides some of this information by showing what has happened in the past when humans modified the environment, and may happen again. The information is also critical for restoration projects, since the goal is to "restore" a habitat to its "original" condition.

5. How did you become interested in science? What made you want to be a scientist, and how did you get to The Field Museum?

Growing up in a rural area, I always enjoyed being outdoors. Water and the creatures that inhabit it were particularly fascinating to me. Learning more about biology was a natural extension of this interest. As I was wrapping up my schooling, a position opened up at The Field Museum that involved lots of fieldwork and travel to foreign countries. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, so I applied for the job, and was fortunate enough to get it because of my fish collecting experience and museum/systematics background.

6. Describe important collaborations for your scientific endeavors (describe your work with other researchers, organizations, or scientific groups, local or indigenous peoples, etc.)

Collaborations are a critical part of biological conservation because no one person, or even institution, can do it alone. These collaborations manifest themselves at many levels, from the landowners that live in the area of interest to the scientists that devote their lives to the study of a particular taxon. I will use the new species, Aphyocharax yekwanae, as one example. It was described with the help of a colleague, Antonio Machado-Allison, from Museo de Biologia, Instituto de Zoologia Tropical, Universidad Central de Venezuela. It was named in honor of the Ye'Kwana tribe that lives in and oversees most of the Rio Caura basin because of their fervid desire to protect and manage their home territory and its environment. The expedition that collected it included 16 scientists (two were students) from seven institutions, three countries, and six disciplines (e.g., botany, limnology, ichthyology, etc.) and at least 16 people from the local villages.

All the expeditions to South and Central America that I have participated in were multinational and multidisciplinary, and, more importantly, included local research and conservation organizations. Another example is the history of fishes in Wolf Lake. This was the site of the Calumet BioBlitz, an event that involved the collaboration of many Chicago area organizations. The BioBlitz was a source of data and acted as an impetus for the study. With help, I searched The Field Museum, Illinois Natural History Survey, and Southern Illinois University - Carbondale for historical collections. Groups interested in the results include Association for the Wolf Lake Initiative and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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