Katherine S. Ralls is an American

zoologist 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 kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

and conservationist who is Senior Research Zoologist Emerita at the

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) is a unit of the Smithsonian Institution located on a campus located just outside the town of Front Royal, Virginia. An extension of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the SCBI has played ...

, National Zoological Park. Ralls' research interests are in the behavioral ecology, genetics, and conservation of mammals, both terrestrial and marine. Since 1980, she has focused on conservation biology, especially the genetic problems of small captive and wild populations. Two mammals that she has studied extensively are the sea otter and the

San Joaquin kit fox The endangered San Joaquin kit fox (''Vulpes macrotis mutica'') was formerly very common in the San Joaquin Valley and through much of Central California. Its 1990 population was estimated to be 7,000. This subspecies is still endangered, after n ...

. Some of her research is on the genetic management of wild and captive animal populations. She obtained a BA in Biology from Stanford in 1960, an MS in Biology from Radcliffe College in 1962 and a PhD in Biology from Harvard in 1965.http://www.coastalresearchcenter.ucsb.edu/cmi/CMI%20CVs/Ralls.pdf In 2005 she was granted an honorary fellowship in the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

. Ralls worked on the founding of the

Society for Conservation Biology The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) is an 501(c)(3) non-profit international professional organization that is dedicated to conserving biodiversity. There are over 4,000 members worldwide, including students and those in related non-academ ...

in the mid-1980s. In 1986, she and research associate Jonathan Ballou, (now research scientist emeritus at the

), developed an international workshop on genetic management for zoo animals. In 2017, Ralls, Ballou, and Richard Frankham published the first book on the genetic management of fragmented species populations, "Genetic Management of Fragmented Animal and Plant Populations." In addition to her Smithsonian appointment, Ralls is a research associate at the Institute of Marine Sciences,

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the edge of ...

Honors

* Fellow, California Academy of Sciences, 2007 * Co-awarded George Miksch Sutton Award in Conservation Research, Southwestern Association of Naturalists, 2007 * Honorary Fellow, Zoological Society of London, 2006 * Resolution of Appreciation, Stanislaus Foundation Endangered Species Recovery Program, 1998 * C. Hart Merriam Award, American Society of Mammalogists, 1996 * Edward T. LaRoe Award, Society for Conservation Biology, 1996 * Fellow, Animal Behavior Society, 1992 * Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1989

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralls, Katherine 1939 births Living people Radcliffe College alumni American women scientists 21st-century American zoologists Stanford University alumni 21st-century American women scientists