Roman Isaevich Zlotin


Roman Isaevich Zlotin was a Soviet and American biogeographer, zoologist, and ecologist. He was the head of the Biogeography Laboratory at the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences / Russian Academy of Sciences, and a professor at Indiana University Bloomington and the University of New Mexico.
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Biography

He was born on 22 November 1940 in Moscow. He spent his childhood in the Khamovniki District.
He received his secondary education at Moscow School No. 7, located at Kazansky Lane, building 10.
From 1952 to 1959, he participated in the work of the biological circle of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Nature under the leadership of Pyotr Petrovich Smolin. Along with Boris Vilensky, Pyotr Vtorov, Yuri Puzyachenko, Olga Shokhina, Mikhail Chernyakhovsky, Leonid Lisovenko, and Nikolai Drozdov, they became prominent representatives of the second generation of VOOP members. Within VOOP, the trio Zlotin-Vtorov-Lisovenko was supervised by Yuri Ravkin, under whose guidance they prepared their candidate's work in the circle. Due to frequent expeditions, he was held back a year in the 8th grade and went to the Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve for the summer.
From 1958 to 1963, he studied at the Faculty of Geography of Moscow State University, graduating from the Department of Biogeography.

Scientific work

In 1963, he was assigned to the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, starting work in the newly introduced position of research trainee..
In 1970, he defended his dissertation on "Structure and Productivity of High-Mountain Biogeocenoses of the Inner Tien Shan".
In 1976, he was Deputy Secretary-General of the 23rd session of the International Geographical Union Congress held in Moscow.
In 1979, he was the scientific secretary for the "Geography" and "Island Ecosystems" symposia at the 14th session of the Pacific Science Association Congress held in Khabarovsk.
He was one of the organizers of expeditions to the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean on the research vessel "Kallisto", voyages in 1976–1977 and 1980. He is a member of the informal "Kallisto Club".
He donated the collections of invertebrate animals and reptiles he gathered from the Tien Shan and tropical islands to the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University.
In 1983, he succeeded Yuri A. Isakov as head of the Biogeography Department at the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He actively supported the work of Natalia I. Bazilevich, organizing assistance for her from the laboratory staff. In 1991, the Biogeography Department split into two laboratories; Roman Isaevich remained head of one, and Arkady A. Tishkov headed the second. After R. I. Zlotin left the Institute in 1996, the laboratories were reunited, and the resulting unit retained its laboratory status.

Professor and scientific work in the USA

From 1992 to 1993, he gave visiting lectures in the USA. He taught at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Department of Geography, Institute of Russia and Eastern Europe, Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University.
From 1997, he was a professor of geography at Indiana University Bloomington and biology at the University of New Mexico. He taught students in biogeography and ecology and conducted summer courses in experimental ecosystem ecology and biology.
Simultaneously, he conducted research in ecosystem ecology, regional geography, studied global climate change, and worked on nature conservation issues in the USA and Russia.
Main research topics:
  • Long-term ecological research at field experimental sites in arctic, forest, steppe, desert, and alpine ecosystems.
  • Expertise in ecological risk assessment and biodiversity conservation in areas of economic development.
In the spring of 2019, he retired but continued with science and consultations at Indiana University.
He died on 26 February 2023 in Bloomington, Indiana, USA.

Membership in organizations

Film appearances

He appeared in Soviet popular science films, including:
  • 1977 — "Kallisto" Goes to Suvorov Atoll.
  • 1988 — Where Do the Goitered Gazelles Go?

Literature

Polunin N., Curme L. M. // World who is who and Does what in Environment & Conservation. London: Earthscan, 1997. P. 336..Kovshar A. F. Zlotin Roman Isaevich // Ornithologists of Kazakhstan and Central Asia: 20th Century: Biographical Reference Guide. Almaty: Kompleks, 2003. P. 199.