H. Bruce Rinker, PhD

bruce.rinker@briloon.org
Director of Scientific Advancement and Development
Biodiversity Research Institute, 19 Flaggy Meadow Road, Gorham, ME 04038
Office Telephone: 207-839-7600 ext. 102

Curriculum Vitae (PDF 39K)

Personal Statement

I am an ecologist, educator, and explorer. I have always tried to make a difference by helping others and conserving the natural world. Working for nonprofit organizations, teaching young people, lecturing all over the world, exploring and researching, writing, studying, volunteering, campaigning, even preaching as a one-time Franciscan friar: all elements of my intrinsic drive to make a difference in a world that seems at once fragile and durable.

Though a forest canopy ecologist with a concentration on the ecological links between the treetops and soils, I also have an abiding interest in evolutionary biology, ethnobotany, resource management, botany, entomology, ornithology, and much more. My publications reflect this diverse appreciation: e.g., habitat selection by neotropical migrants, insect herbivory, allelopathy, petroleum pollution and waterfowl, canopy research and education, wildlife conservation, research methodologies, tropical studies, and resource stratification. In other words, my professional interests fall squarely under the umbrella heading of environmental studies: creative interdisciplinary scholarship and practice to solve ecological problems on multiple scales. My research typically deals with numerical data, but I have respect for both quantitative and qualitative sciences in settling environmental issues. Canopy ecology compels me toward a systems perspective of forest habitat, noting its three-dimensional architecture, microclimates, complex symbioses, and natural and anthropogenic changes through time.

I always bring my full person - including my determination and drive, a sense of wonder, perspicacity, compassion, and keen eagerness—to the tasks at hand. I resist being sequestered into a narrow academic discipline though I fully acknowledge a need at times for specialization so long as that domain of expertise remains permeable and collaborative. I take great pride in my work and offer the best of my abilities to make my part of a very large world at least a little better than I found it.

Last Updated: 1/6/12