Dioscoro S. Rabor

Dioscoro Siarot Rabor ((1911-05-18)May 18, 1911–(1996-03-25)March 25, 1996), also known as Joe Rabor, was a Filipino ornithologist, zoologist, and conservationist. Known as the "Father of Philippine Wildlife Conservation", he led more than 50 wildlife expeditions in the Philippines, authored 87 scientific papers and articles, and described 69 new bird taxa and numerous mammal species.^[3]

Dioscoro S. Rabor
Born	(1911-05-18)May 18, 1911 Cebu City, Philippine Islands
Died	March 25, 1996(1996-03-25) (aged 84) Laguna, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Alma mater	University of the Philippines Yale University
Spouse	Lina N. Florendo Rabor
Scientific career
Fields	Ornithology, Zoology
Doctoral advisor	Sidney Dillon Ripley
Notable students	Angel C. Alcala[1][2]
Author abbrev. (zoology)	Rabor

In 1965, he brought public attention to the endangered status of the Philippine Eagle.^[3][4][5]

Biography

Early life and education

Born in Cebu City, Philippines, Rabor studied at the University of the Philippines for his bachelors and masters degrees. He pursued Ph.D. studies at Yale University, where he was advised by ornithologist Sidney Dillon Ripley.^[3] In 1974, Silliman University granted him an honorary Sc.D.^[3][6]

Career

Rabor led many expeditions throughout the Philippine Islands to collect animal specimens, making a significant contribution to knowledge about Philippine wildlife and ecology. He often traveled with his wife, Lina N. Florendo Rabor, and their six children. Over several decades, he visited 25 islands in the Philippines and collected over 60,000 bird specimens. His field collection efforts allowed for the description of many new taxa, including 8 species and 61 subspecies of birds.^[3]

He held teaching and research positions at several institutions, including Silliman University;^[6] Mindanao State University; and the College of Forestry, University of the Philippines Los Baños.^[3]

Beginning in 1965, Rabor called attention to the decline of the Philippine Eagle,^[4] an endangered species found only in the forests of the Philippine Islands that faces widespread habitat loss.^[7][8] His efforts to educate people around the world about the challenges facing the Philippine Eagle helped spur the involvement of Peace Corps volunteers in Philippine Eagle conservation projects.^[4][8] One of the volunteers, ornithologist Robert Kennedy,^[8] returned to the Philippines to continue working on eagle conservation and awareness efforts, including successfully lobbying to change the name of the species from the "Monkey-eating Eagle."^[4][8] Kennedy and colleagues named Lina's Sunbird (Aethopyga linaraborae) after Lina Rabor.^[9]

Awards and recognition

• Fulbright Research Fellowship, Field Museum of Natural History
• Guggenheim Fellowship, Organismic Biology & Ecology (1950)^[10]
• Research Associate, Field Museum of Natural History
• Research Associate, Yale Peabody Museum
• Research Associate, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
• Research Associate, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
• Research Associate, Bernice P. Bishop Museum
• Corresponding Fellow, American Ornithologists' Union
• Guggenheim Fellowship, Organismic Biology & Ecology (1956)^[10]
• Research Fellowship in Zoology, Yale University (1957-1958)
• Research Fellowship in Zoology, Chicago Natural History Museum (1957-1958)
• United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (1957-1958)
• Research Grantee, Frank M. Chapman Memorial Fund (1962,1963-1964)
• Travel Grantee, International Council for Bird Preservation (1962)
• Research Grantee, Yale University (1962)
• Travel Grantee, 1st World Conference on National Parks in Seattle, Washington (1962)
• Travel Grantee, 13th International Ornithological Congress in Cornell University, New York (1962)
• Honorary Research Associate Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. (1963)
• Honorary Curator in Ornithology in the National Museum of the Philippines (1964)
• Member of the Planning Committee of the following International Ornithological Congresses:

• XIV, Oxford (1966)
• XV, The Hague (1970)
• XVI, Canberra (1974)

Eponyms

Rabor is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of Philippine lizard, Lipinia rabori.^[11]

See also

• List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 1950

References

1. Alcala, Angel C. (August 9, 2007). "Lessons Learned and Responses to Academic Challenges at Silliman University". Silliman University. Retrieved August 6, 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
2. "Biography of Angel C. Alcala" (PDF). The 1992 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service. 1992. Retrieved August 6, 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
3. Kennedy, Robert S.; Miranda, Hector C. Jr. (1998). "In Memoriam: Dioscoro S. Rabor" (PDF). The Auk. 115 (1). American Ornithologists' Union: 204–205. doi:10.2307/4089125. ISSN 0004-8038. JSTOR 4089125. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2010. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
4. "Focusing on the Philippine Eagle for the conservation of nature". The Philippine Eagle Foundation. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
5. Puracan, Karen (1995). "The Philippine Eagle: 'King of Birds'". Delaware Valley Raptor Center. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
6. "Alumni Updates (May 18-24)". Silliman University. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
7. Clark, William S.; Sharpe, Christopher J.; Boesman, Peter F. D.; Marks, Jeffrey S. (2020). "Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), version 1.0". Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.grpeag1.01.
8. "In the Aerie of the Philippine Eagle". All About Birds. 2017-09-18. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
9. Robert S. Kennedy; Pedro C. Gonzales; Hector C. Miranda (January 1997). "New Aethopyga Sunbirds (Aves: Nectariniidae) from the Island of Mindanao, Philippines". The Auk. 114 (1): 1–10. doi:10.2307/4089060. ISSN 0004-8038. JSTOR 4089060. Wikidata Q104115278. Lina N. Florendo Rabor accompanied her husband,the preeminent Philippine ornithologist Dioscoro S. Rabor, on more than 40 scientific expeditions throughout the Philippines from 1936 to 1975 and contributed to some 80 papers and books published by Dr. Rabor and his colleagues.Throughout this extraordinary effort she remained a silent partner. We are pleased to name this new and beautiful sunbird after this remarkable person.
10. "Dioscoro S. Rabor". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
11. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Rabor", p. 215).