David J. Patterson

David Joseph Patterson (born 19 April 1950) is a Northern Irish taxonomist specializing in protozoa and the use of taxonomy in biodiversity informatics.

With Guy Brugerolle, he introduced his concept that clades of protists could usefully be identified by the complement and arrangement of organelles - that is their ultrastructural identity.

With co-workers, this led to recognition of new domains of protistan diversity - such as stramenopiles, alveolates, and the excavates (excavata) - robustly defined by reference to amorphies, then a rarity in protistology.

Patterson explored the emerging and largely theoretical concept that most microbes should have a universal distribution, initially articulated by Lourens Baas Becking, and refreshed by Tom Fenchel and Bland Finlay.

Applying standardized sampling, documentation, and reporting protocols, to communities in marine, freshwater, and extreme sites, in Pacific and Atlantic locations, northern and southern hemispheres, in coastal habitats and deep ocean sediments (etc.

Following retirement from the academic world, he has written STEM (Science Technology, Engineering, Math) storytime readers for parents who seek to promote thoughtfulness in 5-9 year old children.