Kenneth A. Christiansen


Kenneth А. Christiansen was an American entomologist, speleologist, and systematist of springtails, and a professor at Grinnell College.

Biography

He was born on June 24, 1924.
During World War II, Christiansen served as a forward observer for a mortar platoon in the 2nd Armored Division. Participated in battles in France.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Boston University.
He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1951 for his study of the genus Entomobrya.
He began teaching at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and at Smith College. He frequently traveled to Switzerland for consultations with European springtail experts Gisin and Delamare Deboutteville.
Starting in 1955, he taught at Grinnell College, where he taught courses in general biology, zoology, evolution, ecology, sociobiology, invertebrate zoology, entomology, parasitology, and marine biology.
He was known for his lectures on atheism.
In 1962, he was appointed a professor of biology, and in 1994, he was named a professor emeritus.
His research, starting with his doctoral dissertation, focused on the evolution and taxonomy of springtails. He wrote over 60 articles and two books on the subject.
As a speleologist, he was known for describing nearly 50 new species of cave springtails out of the 60 known species in the United States.
Concurrently, he served on the Iowa Governor's Science Advisory Council.
He died on November 26, 2017, in Grinnell, Iowa.

Awards and honors