Birutė Galdikas
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Birutė Galdikas OC |
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| Born | Birutė Marija Filomena Galdikas 10 May 1946 Wiesbaden, Germany |
| Fields | Primatology, anthropology, ethology |
| Institutions | Simon Fraser University |
| Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Known for | Study of orangutans, conservation |
| Notable awards | Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (1997) |
Birutė Marija Filomena Galdikas, OC (born 10 May 1946), is a Lithuanian anthropologist, primatologist, conservationist, ethologist, and author. She is currently a Professor at Simon Fraser University. Well known in the field of primatology, Galdikas is recognized as a leading authority on orangutans. Prior to her field study of orangutans, scientists knew little about the species.
Galdikas was born on 10 May 1946 in Wiesbaden, Germany. Her parents, Antanas and Filomena Galdikas, were Lithuanian refugees fleeing the Soviet takeover following World War II. When Galdikas was two years old, the family moved to Canada when Antanas signed a contract to work in copper mining in Quebec. The following year, they relocated to Toronto, where Galdikas grew up. Her father worked as a miner and a contractor. As a young child, Birute's head was filled with visions of far off forests and exotic creatures. The first book she borrowed from the Toronto Public Library was a tale about a mischievous little monkey named Curious George. When she grew older, she was swept up by the National Geographic adventures of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey. She has two younger brothers and a younger sister.
In 1962 the Galdikas family moved again, first to Vancouver and then to southern California. Galdikas enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she studied psychology, archaeology, and anthropology. In 1966, she earned her bachelor's degrees in psychology and zoology, jointly awarded by UCLA and the University of British Columbia. She earned her master's degree in anthropology from UCLA in 1969. During her graduate studies at UCLA, Galdikas met paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, whom she approached about studying orangutans in their natural habitats. Leakey and the National Geographic Society agreed to establish a research facility in Borneo. Her research became the basis of her doctoral studies, and she earned her doctorate in anthropology from UCLA in 1978.
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