{"id":3987,"date":"2020-04-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=3987"},"modified":"2020-06-12T15:02:45","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T15:02:45","slug":"thomas-kunz-biologist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=3987","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Kunz, biologist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Thomas H. Kunz \u2011 an American biologist specializing in the study of bats – died from Covid-19  on April 13, 2020.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

He was credited with coining the study of aeroecology; additionally, he wrote several fundamental textbooks and publications on bat ecology.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kunz grew up in Missouri. He credited his interest in biology to his fifth-grade teacher, who was passionate about silkworms.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kunz received a BA in biology in 1961 and MA in education in 1962 from the University of Central Missouri. He went on to receive another MA from Drake University in biology in 1968, and gained his PhD from the University of Kansas in systematics and ecology in 1971.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kunz taught high school in Kansas after receiving his MA in education. Kunz states that his first experience working with bats was before he attended Drake University. While caving, he and a friend encountered a banded bat. He called in the number on the band and later would collaborate with the professor who banded the bat. Kunz became a professor at Boston University in 1971.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kunz edited or coedited six books on the biology and ecology of bats. His book Ecological and Behavioral Methods for the Study of Bats "is widely praised as one of the best resources available for professional bat researchers, educators and conservationists." He also helped establish the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in Ecuador in 1995 to promote the study of rainforest ecology.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

He helped distinguish the new scientific discipline of aeroecology, which integrates geography, ecology, atmospheric science, and computational biology. A key concept of aeroecology is thinking of the aerosphere as part of the biosphere, as many organisms depend upon the aerosphere for resources. He conducted research on the ecosystem services of bats in a study published in Science, concluding that their services are worth $3–54 billion per year. He retired in 2011 after being seriously injured in an accident.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 1984, he won the Gerritt S. Miller Award from the North American Society for Bat Research. In 2003, the University of Central Missouri presented him with their Distinguished Alumni Award, calling him "one of the world's leading mammalogists." In 2011, Kunz was named a Boston University William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor, which is its highest academic award. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was formerly President of the American Society of Mammalogists. He was also a recipient of the C. Hart Merriam Award for his contributions to the field of mammalogy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 2015, Boston University began the Thomas H. Kunz Fund in Biology to "train the next generation of ecologists." PhD candidates in the Ecology, Behavior & Evolution program are eligible for the Thomas H. Kunz Award, which is a financial award from the Thomas H. Kunz Fund.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Kunz was married to Margaret Kunz. He had two children, Pamela and David. He died in 2020 of complications from Covid-19.<\/p>\r\n<\/p>

<\/p>\n \n \n

<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas H. Kunz \u2011 an American biologist specializing in the study of bats – died from Covid-19  on April 13, 2020. He was credited with coining the study of aeroecology; additionally, he wrote several fundamental textbooks and publications on bat ecology. Kunz grew up in Missouri. He credited his interest in biology to his fifth-grade […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[46,7019,15],"tags":[6394,6393,6392],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/wp-content\/uploads\/imageholder\/uploads\/Thomas_Kunz.jfif","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3137,"url":"https:\/\/personmatters.com\/Remembering_Covid_19_Victims\/?p=3137","url_meta":{"origin":3987,"position":0},"title":"Floyd Cardoz, chef","date":"April 26, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Floyd Cardoz \u2013an Indian-born American chef \u2013 passed away after contracting Covid-19 virus on March 25, 2020. He was born in Mumbai. 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