Joseph Bruno Slowinski (November 15, 1962 – September 12, 2001) was an American herpetologist who worked extensively with elapid

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

Research and career

Slowinski was born on November 15, 1962, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, New York. He attained his bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Kansas in 1984 and went on to receive his Ph.D. at the University of Miami in 1991, studying under herpetologist Jay M. Savage. He performed postdoctoral work at the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

and

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, eventually taking a position as a professor of biology at Southeastern Louisiana University. Slowinski was a founder of the first online herpetological journal, ''Contemporary Herpetology'', and served as its editor-in-chief. He was also the curator for the Department of Herpetology for the California Academy of Sciences. His primary area of research was venomous snakes, having written some 40 peer-reviewed articles and one book.

Death and legacy

On September 11, 2001, while researching in an isolated region of

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

, Slowinski was bitten by a Suzhen's krait ('' Bungarus suzhenae''). He died 29 hours later after his team, which included Mark W. Moffett, made several failed attempts to obtain medical attention. The September 11 terrorist attacks made communication with the embassy difficult, and by the time the embassy prepared a helicopter, the weather was particularly bad, thus preventing a helicopter from transporting Slowinski to a hospital, and making it impossible to carry medical supplies to the campsite. A biography of Slowinski titled ''The Snake Charmer'' was written in 2008 by Jamie James. Three species have been named after Slowinski: a species of North American corn snake ('' Pantherophis slowinskii''), a species of bent-toed gecko native to Myanmar ('' Cyrtodactylus slowinskii''), and a species of krait native to Vietnam ('' Bungarus slowinskii'').

Bibliography

*''Introduction to Genetics'', 1998 – National Textbook Company, Lincolnwood, Illinois.

References

External links

California Academy of Sciences: Joseph Bruno SlowinskiFrogweb – People – Slowinski, J.B.
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060523055642/http://www.calacademy.org/calwild/2000spring/stories/venoms.html Striking Beauties: Venomous Snakesa
California Wild
Accessed 27 July 2007.

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Dr. Mark W. Moffett's website
Accessed 27 July 2007.

(mirror of article by Dr. Mark W. Moffett from the April 2002 issue of Outside Magazine) a
Jacq.org
Accessed 27 July 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Slowinski, Joseph Bruno American herpetologists 1962 births 2001 deaths Deaths due to snake bites Accidental deaths in Myanmar Scientists from New York City 20th-century American zoologists 21st-century American zoologists University of Kansas alumni University of Miami alumni Southeastern Louisiana University faculty