Dr. Adrianus J. Kalmijn had a life-long interest in the sensory detection of electric, magnetic, hydrodynamic and low frequency acoustic fields, the physics of the stimulus fields in the aquatic environment, and the relevance for the recipient animals.
Dr. Kalmijn studied Physics and Biology at the University of Utrecht, where he also received his PhD under Dr. Sven Dijkgraaf. In 1970 he left for the USA and spent two years as a visiting scientist in the laboratory of Dr. Theodore Bullock at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. He continued his research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, performed the open-ocean experiments on prey detection by blue sharks and successfully trained stingrays to orient to electric and magnetic fields. In 1983, he returned to Scripps to continue his research on electromagnetic orientation in a unique Electromagnetic Facility, he designed. He was actively working on his research and publications until December 2021.