Ben Eisenkop

Ben Eisenkop, better known by his pseudonym Unidan, is an ecosystem ecologist and third year doctoral candidate in biology at Binghamton University, who became popular on the social media website Reddit as the "excited biologist" who answers questions and explains concepts related to biology and ecology.
Background
Eisenkop earned his bachelor's degrees in biology and environmental science from Binghamton University in Vestal, New York, and is currently a doctoral student there. He works as a graduate instructor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Binghamton University, teaching courses in biology, ecology, and environmental science. His doctoral research is on ecosystem ecology; he studies how communally roosting crows in New York affect the environment.
Eisenkop enjoys doing improv comedy, and has performed at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
Career
Eisenkop is a science writer for Mental Floss. He has been a graduate instructor for Biology 117: Introduction to Organismal and Population and Environmental Studies 101: Environment and Man/Women: An Ecological Perspective, and currently helps instruct an animal behavior course with professor Anne Clark. He is involved in studying communally roosting crows in New York, by tracking them across the state and monitoring their environmental impact. He is also a collaborator on an upcoming book "Great Adaptations," which teaches concepts of evolution and adaptation to kids. In April 2014, Eisenkop hosted a TedX with Binghamton University, "Alternative Futures of Science Funding."
Reddit
Eisenkop, using the pseudonym Unidan, had been answering biology-related questions on Reddit for several years, when an Ask Me Anything ("AMA", a Q&A style event hosted on Reddit) he did in 2013 made it to the front page of Reddit. Thereafter, his popularity rose and he became one of the most recognizable Redditors (demonym of Reddit users). Eisenkop's popularity and visibility on Reddit garnered him many science education-related job offers, and he now works as a science writer for Mental Floss.
In July 2014, Unidan was shadowbanned from Reddit, for using alternate accounts to downvote other posts and users. Reddit community manager Alex Angel (cupcake1713) described Unidan's actions as "pretty blatant vote manipulation, which is against our site rules" and The Daily Dot commentated that "Unidan’s fall adds him to a list of power users who have abused their influence or Reddit’s system for their own benefit."

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