hkibak

8183 Observations 2386 Species 6886 Identifications 13 Journal Posts 3 Lists 33 Followers

Henrik Kibak

Joined: Jul 14, 2014 Last Active: Jun 8, 2023 iNaturalist Monthly Supporter since November 2019

I am a retired professor of biology. I taught biochemistry and molecular biology at California State University Monterey Bay for many years, as well as a health science service learning course.

I graduated from UC Davis with a BSc in Plant Science, worked on two farms in Oregon, and then worked back in California at the Department of Food and Agriculture for three years in what is now their Department of Pesticide Regulation. I then spent five years as a community organizer on toxics in the environment in both rural and urban settings from Humboldt County to the Coachella Valley, before enrolling in graduate school.
PhD in the laboratory of Lincoln Taiz at UC Santa Cruz (plant physiology and biochemistry).
Post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of David Epel at Stanford University (developmental biology and biochemistry).
I have been pretty passionate about natural history since early childhood when I lived a few blocks from a nice rocky intertidal area but also had access to mountains and desert. During my undergraduate and graduate studies I was fortunate to be able to take courses from Reid Moran (Flora of San Diego), Ralph Lewin (Marine Botany), Beecher Crampton (Grasses in California), and Sam Hinton (Rocky Intertidal Life). Edmund C. Yaeger and Elmer Yale Dawson were my heroes in high school.

I am an equal opportunity naturalist and like to know something about all the species in my surroundings. I am not really expert on any particular taxon although maybe someday. As a professional scientist I spent some time working on projects involving Strongylocentrotus, Mirounga, and Mytilus... so I know a bit about those groups. Here is an Elephant Seal Video "Los Elefantes Marinos," I produced back in the day. In terms of natural history coursework, I am strongest in botany, but still far from expert.
My publications via Google Scholar
My profile on ResearchGate
Google Presentation I developed on introducing iNat for use with college or advanced high school students.

My stats:
https://www.inaturalist.org/stats/2022/hkibak

Even though I don't have time at present to help out with curating, I encourage you to read the iNaturalist Curator Guide! It answers so many questions I've had over the years, especially the section titled External Taxonomic Authority List.

This weeks Assigned Reading :-)