Robert Hessler, professor of oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, has received an honorary degree from the Faculty of Science and Mathematics at Lund University, Lund, Sweden. Hessler was named Doctor of Philosophy, honoris causa at a ceremony in Lund on May 26, 2000.
Hessler has been selected as the recipient of this degree based on his "distinguished research in oceanography related to sound and the sea." For the year 2000 Hessler is the only recipient of this prestigious award.
His research interests include the studies of marine arthropods (invertebrate animals with articulate bodies and limbs, such as insects, arachnids, and crustaceans), especially crustaceans, and the ecology of deep sea bottom communities. Hessler's work has substantially contributed to knowledge of the systematics, evolution, and functional morphology of arthropods and a greater understanding of the ecology and distribution of deep-water animals.
He studies communities at depths of 5,000 to 6,000 meters (3-4 miles) in the centers of the major ocean basins, concentrating on the central North Pacific, in an attempt to understand the organization of communities in these vast food-poor regions of the oceans.
Hessler received his B.A and M.S.degrees, and his PhD degree from the University of Chicago.