UMD News

Director of Public Relations:
Susan Beasy Latto, slatto@d.umn.edu
315 Darland Administration Bldg.
1049 University Drive
Duluth, MN 55812
(218) 726-8830 Cell: (218) 348-5688
Fax: (218) 726-7413

September 24, 2004

Contact:
Susan Beasy Latto, Director, UMD Public Relations (218) 726-8830, slatto@d.umn.edu
Assoc Professor Randall Hicks, Head, Dept. Of Biology (218) 726-7263, rhicks@d.umn.edu

Dr. Rolf O. Peterson, University of Minnesota Duluth alumnus, will be returning to UMD to be inducted into the Academy of Science and Engineering. On Friday, October 1, he will present a seminar in the Department of Biology at 3:00 p.m. in Life Science 185, entitled "The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale - What have we learned?" His seminar is open to all. Members of the Duluth community are cordially invited to attend.

Scientists have been studying the predator-prey interaction between gray wolves and moose on Isle Royale for the past 45 years. It is the world's longest continuous study of either wolves or moose. Dr. Peterson has led this program during the last 34 years. Research generated by this program includes several classic studies in ecology that are widely reported in textbooks and scientific and popular literature.

Dr. Peterson, a native of Minneapolis, came to UMD in 1966, graduated with an undergraduate degree in Zoology in 1970, and won the Outstanding Senior Award in Biology that year. After a Ph.D. at Purdue University in 1974, he joined the faculty at Michigan Technological University, where he is now a professor of wildlife ecology in the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences. Throughout his career a major research focus has been on the gray wolf, a species that never fails to ignite public interest. He has continued a long-term study of wolf and moose populations in Isle Royale National Park, a project begun by his major professor at Purdue, Dr. Durward Allen. He has also studied wolf populations in Alaska, Minnesota, and mainland Michigan, and has advised research programs involving recovering wolf populations in Yellowstone National Park and in Norway.

Dr. Peterson is the author of two books, Wolf ecology and prey relationships on Isle Royale, U.S. National Park Service Scientific Monograph Series No. 11, 1977 and The Wolves of Isle Royale - A Broken Balance, Willow Creek Press, 1995; as well as the author of 94 technical articles published in Science (2), Nature (1), and 19 other scientific journals, plus chapters in 11 books and conference proceedings. During the past decade he has been awarded the Distinguished Moose Biologist Award, from the 26th North American Moose Conference for major contribution toward management of moose in North America; Annual Research Award, Michigan Technological University; and Best Reporting Award from Minnesota Magazine and publications Association for article published in Lake Superior magazine entitled "Of Moose and Wolves".

The UMD Academy of Science and Engineering was established in 2002 to give public recognition to distinguished alumni and special friends of the College of Science and Engineering, who have brought distinction to themselves through their participation, commitment, and leadership in their chosen profession.