Patrick Kociolek, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Hanna Chair and Associate Curartor
Invertebrate Zoology and Geology
California Academy of Sciences
Dr. Kociolek was trained at universities in Maryland and Ohio before receiving his Ph.D. in Natural Resources at the University of Michigan. He came to the Academy in 1989 to be the first recipient of the Hanna Chair in Diatom
Studies. His expertise is on diatoms from freshwater ecosystems. To date he
has published two books and over 75 original scientific works, focused on
diatoms from such ecosystems as Lake Baikal, the Rift Valley lakes of East
Africa, North America's Laurentian Great Lakes and the Amazon River basin of
South America. Closer to home he has described the diatom flora of Mono
Lake, and is currently documenting the diatoms of the Sierra Nevada. Both the
United States Geological Survey and national Oceanographic an Atmospheric
Administration have funded his research on applying diatoms to estimating
environmental perturbations and climate change. Dr. Kociolek is currently the
President of the International Society for Diatom Research, a 500+ member
organization.
As the Academy's Director of Research for the last five years, Dr. Kociolek
has forged links between the Academy and institutions of higher learning in
the bay area, including San Francisco State University and Stanford
University. A diverse set of undergraduate internship opportunities have been
developed during his tenure, including very successful Summer Systematics
Institute, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and attracts
students from around the country to the Academy. He has served national
organizations such as the National Science Foundation, the Association of
Systematics collections and the American Association for the Advancement of
Science.
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