Daniel H. Janzen

Daniel Hunt Janzen (born January 18, 1939, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American evolutionary ecologist and conservationist. He divides his time between his professorship in biology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is the DiMaura Professor of Conservation Biology, and his research and field work in Costa Rica.

Janzen and his wife Winifred Hallwachs have catalogued the biodiversity of Costa Rica. Through a DNA barcoding initiative, Janzen and geneticist Paul Hebert have registered over 500,000 specimens representing more than 45,000 species, which has led to the identification of cryptic species of near-identical appearance that differ in terms of genetics and ecological niche. Janzen and Hallwachs developed some of the most influential hypotheses in ecology that continue to influence research more than 50 years later. Janzen and Hallwachs helped to establish the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site, one of the oldest, largest and most successful habitat restoration projects in the world. Provided by Wikipedia