Mills, Eric L.

Eric Mills is an invertebrate zoologist, biological oceanographer, and historian of science. Born in 1936 in Toronto, Ontario, he received his BSc from Carleton University in 1959 and his MSc and PhD from Yale University in 1962 and 1964. His teaching and research included work at Carleton University; Queen’s University; the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts; and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. From 1967-2002 he taught at both Dalhousie University and the University of King’s College, serving as chairman of Dalhousie's Department of Oceanography from 1990-1992 and as the inaugural director of King's History of Science & Technology Program from 2001-2002. He retired from full-time employment as Professor Emeritus of the History of Science in the Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, and Inglis Professor, University of King’s College.

Mills' earliest work was in marine ecology, leading to his involvement with the Hudson 70 Expedition, the first Canadian biological oceanographic research in the Antarctic. His later studies in the history of science included nineteenth-century natural history, the development of biological and physical oceanography, and the history of Canadian science. He has maintained vigorous personal and professional interest in birds and birding throughout his life.