Wolf V. Vishniac | |
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| Born | Wolf Vladimir Vishniac (1922-04-22)April 22, 1922 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | December 10, 1973(1973-12-10) (aged 51) |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Helen Vishniac |
| Children | Ethan Vishniac |
| Father | Roman Vishniac |
| Relatives | Ilene Busch-Vishniac (daughter-in-law) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | MicrobiologyAstrobiology |
| Institutions | University of Rochester |
Wolf Vladimir Vishniac (April 22, 1922 – December 10, 1973) was an Americanmicrobiologist. He was the son of photographerRoman Vishniac and the father of astronomerEthan Vishniac. Educated atBrooklyn College andStanford University, he was aprofessor ofbiology at theUniversity of Rochester. He died on a research trip to theAntarctic attempting to retrieve equipment in a crevasse. The craterVishniac onMars is named in his honor.[1]
Wolf Vishniac contributed greatly to the search for life on Mars by developing a special miniature laboratory that could be transported to that planet, known as the "Wolf Trap". This research was supported by aNASA grant started in 1959, the first for the biological sciences.[2]
A Wolf Vishniac Memorial Award for Young Researchers is awarded at the biennially heldInternational Symposium On Environmental Biogeochemistry (ISEB).[3] The award is presented to researchers no older than 35 years who must be a first author and give a presentation at the symposium.[4] A notable recipient isSergey Zimov, who received the award at the ISEB-10 in 1991.[5] Other recipients includeM. Francesca Cotrufo at the ISEB-12 (1995),[6] Alexis S. Templeton at the ISEB-14 (1999),[7] Kamlesh Jangid at the ISEB-14 (1999),[8] Salwa Hamdi at the ISEB-19 (2009),[9] and Jillian M. Petersen at the ISEB-20 (2011).[10]
In his 1980 TV seriesCosmos: A Personal Voyage,Carl Sagan told the story of Wolf Vishniac in Episode 5, "Blues for a Red Planet".
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