For example, many turtles inhabit wetlands, but also need accessible dry uplands to lay eggs. The trick is to combine good biology and positive public sentiment to accomplish conservation goals. In spite of massive habitat conversion, we still have an amazingly diverse and wonderful biota around us. I am convinced that conservation can occur at landscape scales, even in the context of working societies. There will be plenty of challenges along the way, including filling vast gaps in our knowledge of species biology and ecosystem function, and finding ways to implement conservation strategies which engage all of us and not just conservationists.
Amazing people can make a big impact.
Twenty years ago, he saw that conservation was driven largely by knee-jerk reactions to development. For me, the life lesson from Big Bob was to work hard to acquire the knowledge, avoid being confined by traditional thinking, and to allow my passion for natural things to show. Doc Petty inspired me and many other Wabash students so that we first developed a passionate appreciation of natural things and learned the biology necessary to pursue it. Wabash College was a perfect place for him. He combined a passion for nature, a searching mind, and artistic expression with a caring attitude toward his students.