Michael H. Robinson (1929, Preston, Lancashire, England — March 22, 2008, Alexandria, Virginia) was a British zoologist who directed the
National Zoo in Washington D.C., for 16 years, from 1984 to 2000.
Robinson received his undergraduate degree from the
University of Wales
The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...
, in 1963, and his doctorate in zoology, in 1966, from
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
, where he studied under Nobel laureate
Nikolaas Tinbergen
Nikolaas "Niko" Tinbergen ( , ; 15 April 1907 – 21 December 1988) was a Dutch biologist and ornithologist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz for their discoveries concerning the ...
. Prior to his work at the National Zoo, Robinson spent 18 years in Panama, Central America, studying animal behavior at the
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI, ) is located in Panama and is the only bureau of the Smithsonian Institution based outside of the United States. It is dedicated to understanding the past, present, and future of tropical ecosyst ...
. There, he researched spiders, crabs, otters, stick insects, and marine life.
His publications include numerous articles and several books. With David Challinor and Holly Webber he wrote the guide book ''Zoo Animals: a Smithsonian guide'' (1995).
He was married to biologist Barbara Robinson, his colleague for many years, from whom he was divorced.
Bibliography
Sources
* Holley, J. 2008. "In Memoriam: Michael H. Robinson (1929-2008)" ''Arch. Biol. Sci. Belgrade'', 60(2): 325-326.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Michael H.
20th-century British zoologists
1929 births
2008 deaths