Richard Bruce "Dick" Root (7 September 1936 – 22 January 2013) was a professor of evolutionary biology, ecology and entomology.
[1] His doctoral thesis, titled “Niche organization in the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)”, was completed in 1964 and later published in Ecological Monographs in 1967.
[5] In the final seven years of his life, Root experienced a gradual decline in his mental and physical abilities due to a degenerative disease, but continued to be involved in science, visiting Cornell University regularly, attending lunch meetings and visiting field sites.
[1] In 1962, while a graduate student, Root won the A. Brazier Howell Award of the Cooper Ornithological Society.
[1][5] In 2003, he received the Edgerton Career Teaching Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University.