Steven Amstrup

Steven C. Amstrup (born February 4, 1950) is an American zoologist who studies bears, especially polar bears. He is the 2012 recipient of the Indianapolis Prize.

Early life Steven Amstrup was born in Fargo, North Dakota, where he took an interest in bears at an early age. In 1975, he graduated from the University of Idaho with a master's degree in wildlife management. He studied black bears in central Idaho for his master's thesis. In 2007, Amstrup's team of scientists prepared nine reports leading to the 2008 listing, by United States Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, of polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. He has taught at the University of Wyoming as an adjunct professor since 2006.

His contributions to polar bear conservation were honored in 2012, when the Indianapolis Zoo named him the winner of their biennial Indianapolis Prize.

Activism After retiring in 2010, Amstrup became the chief scientist for Polar Bears International.

Personal life Amstrup is married. He and his wife are building an energy-efficient house in northeast Washington.