Rudolph Martin Anderson

Who was Rudolph Martin Anderson?

Rudolph Martin Anderson was a Canadian zoologist and explorer.

He was born in Decorah, Iowa in 1876, the son of John E.A. Anderson. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1906; his dissertation was entitled, The birds of Iowa.

He was a veteran of the Spanish American War, serving as a corporal in the 52nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry.

Anderson participated in the Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition which explored Alaska and the northern Yukon from 1908 to 1912 and was part of the Canadian Arctic Expedition led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson from 1913 to 1916.

Anderson joined the Explorers Club in New York in 1912, but resigned six years later.

He assisted in the development of the Migratory Birds Convention signed by Canada and the United States in 1916. He was chief of the Biology Division of the National Museum of Canada from 1920 to 1946.

He died in Ottawa in 1961.