Rüdiger Bieler
Rüdiger Bieler is a German-American biologist whose primary scientific field of study is malacology, the study of mollusks.
Training and career
Bieler studied biology, geography, and biology education at the University of Hamburg, where he held a scholarship of the Studienstiftung. After extensive field research in South Africa he received a PhD degree in Zoology in 1985 under Otto Kraus. Following several postdoctoral research fellowships under the mentorship of Richard S. Houbrick and Mary E. Rice at the National Museum of Natural History, the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Florida, and a NATO postdoctoral fellowship, he became Curator of Malacology at the Delaware Museum of Natural History. Since 1990, he is a Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. He also is a faculty member of the Committee of Evolutionary Biology of the University of Chicago.Research
Much of Bieler's taxonomic research work has focused on marine gastropods, especially on sundials and worm-snails. His evolutionary studies first concentrated on Gastropoda and later extended to Bivalvia and included the earliest application of computer-assisted phylogenetic analyses in that group. He was the lead author on a revised classification for all bivalves, see Taxonomy of the Bivalvia (Bouchet, Rocroi, Bieler, Carter & Coan, 2010), and on major work providing a new hypotheses of the branching pattern in the Bivalve Tree of life (biology) based on both morphological-anatomical and molecular data. He serves as an editor for the phylum Mollusca on the World Register of Marine Species and as a Chief Editor for MolluscaBase.Bieler led collaborative efforts in molluscan systematics and evolutionary biology supported by the National Science Foundation serving as Principal Investigator of Partnership for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy, PEET and the Tree of Life project. He organized various international scientific symposia resulting in peer-reviewed symposium volumes on molluscan systematics and evolution.
He and collaborators developed a series of International Marine Bivalve Workshops that paired students and early-career faculty with leading scientists during intensive fieldwork experiences, resulting in jointly published peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals.
A regional focus of his work has been on the invertebrate animal diversity of South Florida and the Florida Keys. He is affiliated with The Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration of Mote Marine Laboratory. The research concentrates on the development and documentation of baseline data of regional diversity, allowing the recognition of faunal changes due to human impact. Bieler's work in the Florida Keys encompasses an active participation in coral reef restoration efforts, and the survey and monitoring of shipwrecks off the Florida Keys for invasive marine species.
Honorary appointments
Bieler held honorary appointments with various research institutions, including the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He was elected President of both the American Malacological Society and the International Malacological Society "Unitas Malacologia" and organized their congresses in Chicago in 1996 and Washington, DC. in 1998.Bieler has served as President of the Institute of Malacology and as editor or associated editor for numerous scientific serials, including the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. He is a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London.
Actively involved in the administration of natural history museums, he served in various roles including Zoology Department Chair and Board Trustee of the Delaware Museum of Natural History.
Exhibitions and publications
Bieler has been a key contributor to several major museum exhibitions, including Pearls, Evolution on the Half Shell and Specimens!. His own work has been featured in permanent museum exhibitions, such as Abbott Hall of Conservation - Restoring Earth, in a book about the curatorial profession, as well as PBS NewsHour and PBS Changing Seas episodes. He has published, alone or in collaboration with others, more than 100 books, monographs, and articles.Taxa of mollusks described and named
Bieler has described and named, alone or with collaborators, various taxa of mollusks new to science (compiled from MolluscaBase.org, there with full literature linksAdelphotectonica Bieler, 1987Cupolaconcha Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Toulminella Bieler & Dockery III, 2007Ammonicera mexicana Sartori & Bieler, 2014Architectonica arcana Bieler, 1993Architectonica gualtierii Bieler, 1993Cornirostra floridana Bieler & Mikkelsen, 1998Ctenoides obliquus Mikkelsen & Bieler, 2003Cupolaconcha guana Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Cupolaconcha sinaiensis Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Divariscintilla cordiformis Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1992Divariscintilla octotentaculata Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1992Divariscintilla yoyo Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1989Granosolarium gemmiferum Bieler, 1993Heliacus hyperionis Bieler, 1993Heliacus oceanitis Bieler, 1993Heliacus turritus Bieler, 1987- Imparidentia Bieler, Mikkelsen & Giribet, 2014Mathilda boucheti Bieler, 1995Mathilda maculosa Bieler, 1995Novastoa bahamensis Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Novastoa caboverdensis Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Pseudotorinia armillata Bieler, 1993Pseudotorinia sestertius Bieler, 1993Solatisonax kilburni Bieler, 1993Solatisonax propinqua Bieler, 1993Spirolaxis argonauta Bieler, 1993Spirolaxis exornatus Bieler, 1993Stephopoma levispinosum Bieler, 1997Tuba fuscocincta Bieler, 1995Ceraesignum Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Pyrgoheliacus Bieler, 1987Ammonicera mcleani Sartori & Bieler, 2014Ammonicera sleursi Sartori & Bieler, 2014Architectonica consobrina Bieler1993Ceraesignum robinsoncrusoei Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Ctenoides miamiensis Mikkelsen & Bieler, 2003Ctenoides vokesi Mikkelsen & Bieler, 2003Cupolaconcha maldivensis Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Dendropoma expolitum Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Divariscintilla luteocrinita Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1992Divariscintilla troglodytes Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1989Granosolarium excavatum Bieler, 1993Heliacus geminus Bieler, 1993Heliacus nereidis Bieler, 1993Heliacus proteus Bieler, 1993Heliacus verdensis Bieler, 1984Mathilda houbricki Bieler, 1995Mathilda richeri Bieler, 1995Novastoa batavia Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Novastoa pholetor Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014Pseudotorinia bullisi Bieler, Merrill & Boss, 1985Pseudotorinia yaroni Bieler, 1993Solatisonax orba Bieler, 1993Solatisonax rehderi Bieler, 1993Spirolaxis cornuarietis Bieler, 1993Stephopoma abrolhosense Bieler, 1997Tenagodus barbadensis Bieler, 2004Thylacodes vandyensis Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2017