imported>Procyon117: /* Early life and career */

2025-01-11T12:41:49Z

Early life and career

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{{short description|Australian ornithologist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Richard Alexis Zann
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1944|11|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|2009|02|07|1944|11|27|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Kinglake, Victoria]]
| resting_place =
| citizenship =
| nationality = Australian
| fields = [[Ornithology]]
| workplaces = [[La Trobe University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Queensland]]
| thesis_title = Ethology of Poëphila grassfinches (Estrildidae)
| thesis_url = https://doi.org/10.14264/uql.2014.594
| thesis_year = 1972<ref name=thesis>Zann, Richard A. (1972) [https://doi.org/10.14264/uql.2014.594 "Ethology of Poëphila grassfinches (Estrildidae)"] PhD Thesis, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland. doi: https://doi.org/10.14264/uql.2014.594</ref>
| doctoral_advisor = [[Jiro Kikkawa]]
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students =
| known_for = Research on the [[zebra finch]]
| influences =
| influenced =
| awards = [[D.L. Serventy Medal]]
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
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| spouse =
| children =
}}

'''Richard Alexis Zann''' (27 November 1944 – 7 February 2009)<ref name=Obituary>Clarke, Mike (2009) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1071/MUv109n2_OB "Obituary: Richard A. Zann, 27 November 1944–7 February 2009"] ''Emu'', '''109'''(2): 179-179.</ref> was an Australian [[ornithologist]].

==Early life and career==
Zann was born on 27 November 1944, and grew up in the town of [[Casino, New South Wales]], where he developed a boyhood interest in wildlife.<ref name=Obituary/> He graduated from the [[University of New England (Australia)|University of New England]] in 1965, with a First Class Honours degree. He completed his [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] in 1972 at the [[University of Queensland]], studying the behaviour of [[Estrildidae|grassfinches]] under the supervision of [[Jiro Kikkawa]].<ref name=thesis/><ref name=Obituary/> He moved to [[La Trobe University]] in [[Melbourne, Victoria]] in 1972, where he remained until his death in 2009.<ref name=Obituary/>

The main focus of Zann's ornithological research was the [[zebra finch]].<ref name=Obituary/> This work was synthesised in the 1996 book ''Zebra Finch: A Synthesis of Field and Laboratory Studies'', which has been described as his [[magnum opus]].<ref name=Obituary/> Zann was also known for his studies on the [[island biogeography]] of the volcanic island of [[Krakatau]], [[Indonesia]].<ref>Anon. (1998). D.L. Serventy Medal 1998: Citation. Richard Alexis Zann. ''[[Emu (journal)|Emu]]'' 98: 242.</ref><ref>Robin, Libby. (2001). ''The Flight of the Emu: a hundred years of Australian ornithology 1901-2001''. Carlton, Vic. Melbourne University Press. {{ISBN|0-522-84987-3}}</ref> Zann was killed, along with his wife Eileen and daughter Eva, at [[Kinglake, Victoria]] in the [[2009 Victorian bushfires]].<ref name=Obituary/><ref>Vallejo, Justin. (11 February 2009). Loving families wiped out by an indiscriminate inferno. ''The Daily Telegraph''.[http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25037368-5013122,00.html]</ref>

==Honours==
In 1998, Zann was awarded the [[D. L. Serventy Medal]] by the [[Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union]] for outstanding published work on birds in the [[Australasia]]n region.<ref name=Emu/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://home.vicnet.net.au/_donvrac/news.html|title=Friends of Sherbrooke Forest, Inc. Newsletter No. 122|last=Incoll|first=Jan|date=2009|website=webarchive.nla.gov.au|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20090821140100/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/46107/20090822-0001/home.vicnet.net.au/_donvrac/news.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-08-21|access-date=}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In an obituary published in 2009, colleague Mike Clarke described Zann as "a reserved, humble, self-effacing man with a particularly dry sense of humour, who often made fun of his own shortcomings."<ref name=Obituary/> In 2010, the scientific journal ''[[Emu (journal)|Emu]]'' published a special issue in Zann's memory, dedicated to the zebra finch.<ref name=Emu>Buchanan, Katherine L., Simon C. Griffith, and Sarah R. Pryke (2010) [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1071/MUv110n3_PR "The Zebra Finch: a synthesis revised"] ''Emu'' '''110'''(3): i-ii.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* Zann, Richard A. (1996). ''Zebra Finch: A Synthesis of Field and Laboratory Studies''. (Illustrated by Michael Bamford). Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-854079-3}}.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zann, Richard Alexis}}
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian ornithologists]]
[[Category:Natural disaster deaths in Australia]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in Victoria (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian zoologists]]
[[Category:People from Casino, New South Wales]]

Richard Zann - Revision history

imported>Procyon117: /* Early life and career */