Harald Mogensen Thamdrup (17 May 1908 – 13 November 1998) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and science organizer. Thamdrup was a professor of

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

Aarhus University Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...

1959-1975 – the first in that chair. He also served as a director of the

Natural History Museum, Aarhus The Natural History Museum (Danish: Naturhistorisk Museum) in Aarhus is a Danish museum specializing in natural history. The Natural History Museum is an independent institution financed with contributions from the Ministry of Culture, Aarhus M ...

1941-1978 and founded the research station Mols Laboratory (''Molslaboratoriet'') in 1941 and in 1949 the Wildlife Biological Station (''Vildtbiologisk Station'') at Kalø which he led for 30 years.

Biography

Thamdrup studied natural history at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

and won a gold medal for his thesis on soil dwelling

oribatid mites Oribatida (formerly Cryptostigmata), also known as oribatid mites, moss mites or beetle mites, are an order of mites, in the "chewing Acariformes" clade Sarcoptiformes. They range in size from . There are currently 12,000 species that have been ...

. He obtained a

dr. phil. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

degree in 1935 on his thesis about the intertidal fauna of the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern conti ...

. Thamdrup then turned to the study of soil fauna of

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

. In 1959, he establishment the Department of Zoology at Aarhus University where he served as professor until 1975. Thamdrup was the chairman of the Danish committee under the International Biological Programme 1967-1974 and was in many other respects an organizational catalyst in

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

research during the remainder of his professional life.

References

External links

Molslaboratoriet website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thamdrup, Harald 1908 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Danish zoologists Danish ecologists University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of Aarhus University