Dorete Bloch, married nameDorete Bloch Danielsen, was a Danish zoologist, former director of Náttúrugripasavnið, editor of Fróðskaparrit and author of numerous books on the animals and plants of the Faroe Islands.
Career
Dorete Bloch was born in Rungsted and attended Viborg Katedralskole until 1962 and then Aarhus University. After graduating in 1970 with an MSc in zoology, she worked at the university's Wildlife Research Station at Kalø, where she conducted research into hares and mute swans. In 1974 she moved to the Faroe Islands, where she settled for the rest of her life, and was appointed a lecturer at the University of the Faroe Islands. In 1980, she was promoted to be the director of the zoology department. She was awarded a D.Phil. by the University of Lund in 1994 for her thesis Pilot Whales in the North Atlantic. Age, Growth and Social Structure in Faroese Grinds of the Long-Finned Pilot Whale, Globicephala melas. In 2001, she was appointed as a professor of zoology at the University of the Faroe Islands. Her research has involved various Faroese fauna, including pilot whales, bottlenose whales and mountain hares. Between 2000 and 2004, she was part of a project using tagged long-finned pilot whales to track their movements via satellite. From 1995 to 2009, she was director of the Faroe Natural History Museum. She was also editor of Fróðskaparrit and bird consultant for Vágar Airport.
Private life
Bloch married Ólávus Danielsen. They lived in Velbastaður, in Tórshavn Municipality and had one son, Jónas Bloch Danielsen, a musician who established Studio Bloch in Torshavn.
Selected bibliography
Bloch, D., Jákupsson, B. and Arnskov, S. 1980. Faroese flowers. Tórshavn: Føroya Fróðskaparfelag
Bloch, D., Aldenius, J. and Lindell, T. 1982. List to K. Hansen: Vascular Plants in the Faroes. Fróðskaparrit 30: 119–121.
Bloch, D. and Sørensen, S. 1983. The autumn migration at Akraberg, Faroe Islands, 1982. Fróðskaparrit 31: 75–93.
Bloch, D. and Sørensen, S. 1984. Yvirlit yvir Føroya fuglar. Tórshavn: Føroya Skúlabókagrunnur.
Bloch, D. and Sørensen, S. 1988. Ferðafuglur. Tórshavn: Føroya Lærarafelag.
Bloch, D. 1990. Studies of the long-finned pilot whale in the Faroe Islands, 1976–1986. Fróðskaparrit 38-39: 35–61.
Bloch, D. 1990. A note on the occurrence of land planarians in the Faroe Islands. Fróðskaparrit 38–39: 63–68.
Desportes, G., Andersen, L.W., Aspholm, P.E., Bloch, D. and Mouritsen, R. 1992. A note about a male-only pilot whale school observed in the Faroe Islands. Fróðskaparrit 40: 31–37.
Desportes, G., Bloch, D., Andersen, L.W. and Mouritsen, R. 1992. The internationalresearch programme on the ecology and status of the long-finned pilot whale off the Faroe Islands: Presentation, results and references. Fróðskaparrit 40: 9–29.
Baagøe, H. and Bloch, D. 1993. Bats in the Faroe Islands. Fróðskaparrit 41: 83–88.
Bloch, D. and Mourier, H. 1993. Pests recorded in the Faroe Islands, 1986–1992. Fróðskaparrit 41: 69–82.
Kaaber, S., Gjelstrup, P., Bloch, D. and Jensen, J.-K. 1993. Invasion af admiralen og andre sommerfugle på Færøerne i 1992. Fróðskaparrit 41: 125–149.
Bloch, D., Kristiansen, A. and Rasmussen, S. 1994 Jóannes í Króki 200 ár. Tórshavn: Føroya Froðskaparfelag
Bloch, D., Jensen, J-K. and Olsen, B. 1996. Listi yvir fuglar sum eru sæddir í Føroyum. Torshavn: Føroya Náttúrugripasavn
