Robert P. Higgins

Higgins was co-discovered of a “new” form of life, phylum Loricifera. Five glass models of the “first loriciferan,” Pliciloricus enigmaticus, Higgins & Kristensen, were crafted in Denmark in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the publication of the phylum Loricifera.

The University of Copenhagen gave one of the glass models to the Academy in 2005 in honor of Dr. Robert P. Higgins (Academy past president). Accompanying the model was a letter from Dr. R.M. Kristensen (co-discoverer of Loricifera).

During the 102nd Annual Meeting, the Academy hosted a special event, “A Celebration of Biodiversity: A Tribute to Dr. Robert P. Higgins,” which was held in the WRAL Digital Theater of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. Event details are available in the Proceedings of the Journal of the North Carolina Academy of Science (JNCAS) (2005, Vol. 121(4), pages 177–191).

Higgins’s autobiographical report, “The ontogeny and phylogeny of a discovery: the story of the first Loriciferan,” was published in the Journal of the North Carolina Academy of Science (JNCAS) (2005, Vol. 121(2), pages iii-vi, and 1-13).

In 2020, the Academy formally transferred ownership of the model to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, expressing the desire for the museum to “exhibit the model, along with its history, so that the public and generations to come may appreciate this beautiful model and be made aware of the late Dr. Higgins’ important contributions to science.”

Higgins was an elected member of Sigma Xi and elected fellow of AAAS. His accomplishments were quite grand. During the 1990s, Discover magazine and PBS featured his research.