Vladimir Sokolov (scientist)

Vladimir Sokolov (February 1, 1928 – April 19, 1998) was a Russian scientist in the field of zoology and ecology. He was a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Science and the Brundtland Commission. He was one of the pioneers of the Russian environmental movement and one of the early global sustainability advocates.

Sokolov was Professor and Head of the Department of Vertebrate Zoology at the Faculty of Biology at Moscow State University; Director of the Institute of Evolutionary Animal Morphology and Ecology at the Russian Academy of Sciences; and Deputy Chairman of Chemical, Technological and Biological Sciences at the USSR Academy of Sciences.

He is the biological grandfather of Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the Evening Standard and Independent newspapers.

Sokolov was born in Moscow, the son of a zoology professor.

He graduated from Moscow State University in 1950, with aspirations to become a mammalogist. He then became a Senior Lecturer and Head of Postgraduate Studies at the Moscow Institute of Fisheries (1953–1956); Professor and Head of the Department of Soil and Biology Faculty at Moscow State University (1956–1967) and later Director of the Institute of Evolutionary Morphology and Ecology of Animals. He was Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1967–1998) and also the International Academy of Science, Munich. In 1990 Sokolov became a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

His research focused on ecological morphology, electron microscopy and histology, the hydrodynamics of swimming and environmental physiology, bionics and telemetry, radio-ecology and ecotoxicology and ground-based environmental monitoring. He showed great interest in environmental law and wildlife management issues, conservation of biodiversity and rare species, the history of zoology and environmental education.

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