Allison Alberts
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Allison Christine Alberts (born October 13, 1960) is an American
herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...
and conservation biologist. She began her career at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in 1990 as a postdoctoral fellow, eventually serving as the zoo's Chief Conservation Officer and Benirschke Chair of Research from 2005 to 2020, the first woman in that role. She is known for her work with rock iguanas,
Komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo (island), Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami, and Gili ...
s,
sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerh ...
s,
desert tortoise The desert tortoise (''Gopherus agassizii'') is a species of tortoise in the Family (biology), family Testudinidae. The species is native to the Mojave Desert, Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico ...
s, and native California lizards and snakes, and she is the author of more than 100 scientific and popular articles and three books.


Education

Alberts received her B.A. in biology from the
University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
in 1982 and her Ph.D. from the
University of California at San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...
in 1989. Her dissertation focused on chemical communication in the
desert iguana The desert iguana (''Dipsosaurus dorsalis'') is an iguana species found in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, as well as on several Gulf of California islands. Taxonomy The species was fi ...
, including the first demonstration of visual sensitivity to
ultraviolet light Ultraviolet radiation, also known as simply UV, is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths of 10–400 nanometers, shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight and constitutes about 10% of th ...
in a reptile species.


Career

Alberts began her career at the San Diego Zoo in 1990, working primarily with the highly endangered rock iguanas of the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. She led a team that conducted a decade of research on the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, using the Cuban iguana as a model species. The work focused on
headstarting Headstarting is a conservation technique for endangered species in which young animals are raised artificially and subsequently released into the wild. The technique allows a greater proportion of the young to reach independence, without predation ...
, temporary alteration of social structure to enhance genetic diversity, and educational outreach to base residents. In 2005, Alberts was named Chief Conservation Officer and Benirschke Chair of Research for San Diego Zoo Global (now San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance). During her tenure, the research staff grew to 200 science professionals working in 38 countries. Major initiatives included global species recovery programs, genetic banking, community-based conservation, and addressing wildlife trafficking and
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
. Since retiring from the Zoo in 2020, Alberts has served as Senior Advisor for the
strategic planning Strategic planning is the activity undertaken by an organization through which it seeks to define its future direction and makes decisions such as resource allocation aimed at achieving its intended goals. "Strategy" has many definitions, but it ...
firm Ecoleaders.


Service

Alberts is co-founder and past co-chair of the IUCN – World Conservation Union Species Survival Commission Iguana Specialist Group. In 2015, she received the Athena Pinnacle Award for Excellence in recognition, promotion, and mentorship of women in the
Life Sciences This list of life sciences comprises the branches of science that involve the scientific study of life – such as microorganisms, plants, and animals including human beings. This science is one of the two major branches of natural science, ...
. Since 2018, Alberts has served on the advisory board of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. Her board service also includes the International Iguana Foundation,
San Diego Natural History Museum The San Diego Natural History Museum is a museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1874 as the San Diego Society of Natural History. It is the second oldest scientific institution west of the Mississippi and the oldest ...
, Center for Plant Conservation, and Turtle Survival Alliance.


Selected publications

* Alberts, A.C. (1989). Ultraviolet visual sensitivity in desert iguanas:  Implications for pheromone detection. ''Animal Behaviour'' 38, 129–137. * Alberts, A.C. (1992). Constraints on the design of chemical communication systems in terrestrial vertebrates. ''American Naturalist'' 139S, 62–59. * Alberts, A.C. (2000). ''West Indian Iguanas: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan.'' IUCN – The World Conservation Union, Gland Switzerland. * Alberts, A.C., R.L. Carter, W.K. Hayes, and E.P. Martins. (2004). ''Iguanas: Biology and Conservation.'' University of California Press, Berkeley, California. * Lemm, J.M. and A.C. Alberts. (2012). ''Cyclura: Natural History, Husbandry, and Conservation of the West Indian Rock Iguanas.'' Academic Press, Elsevier, San Diego, California.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberts, Allison Living people American herpetologists Year of birth missing (living people)