Naturalist of the Year

The Naturalist of the Year award was established in 1999 by then WSN president Paul Dayton to recognize those unsung heroes who define our future by inspiring young people with the wonders and sheer joy of natural history. The awardees are usually educators, actively working in academia who contribute substantially to teaching their students to love, appreciate and protect the wonders of nature . The Naturalist of the Year gives a featured presentation at the annual meeting about the importance of mentoring natural history at all levels and the internal rewards that one receives when inspiring others to do so. All current WSN members are eligible to submit a nomination for the Naturalist of the Year award. The nomination must have the name and title of the nominator, the name and title of the nominee, and a half to one page description of why the nominee should be considered (using above description of the Naturalist of the Year award as a guideline). Nominations should be sent to all three of the most recent Naturalists (contact information listed below), with cc to the WSN President and Secretariat. Nominations must be received by 1 July of the award year. The recipient for the award is chosen by the most recent three Naturalists.

A Naturalist of the Year Award Plaque is given to each awardee. The artwork on the plaque was created by Marguerite Costigan (circa 1990) and has been entitled "Reach for the Stars with Western Society of Naturalists." A human diver appears to be reaching for a Solaster stimpsoni sea star while navigating through a Macrocystis integrifolia kelp bed.

2008 Terrie Klinger Associate Professor, School of Marine Affairs University of Washington tklinger@u.washington.edu http://sma.washington.edu/faculty/t_klinger.html Trained as a benthic ecologist, Terrie taught field courses and performed ecological research at the Friday Harbor Laboratories for a decade before joining the faculty of the School of Marine Affairs at the University of Washington in 2001. Since then, her research and teaching have expanded to include the application of ecological theory to marine environmental policy and management. She serves as the chair of the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council and is the Governor’s Appointee to the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative.

2007 Genevieve (Genny) Anderson Biological Sciences Department, Santa Barbara City College anderson@sbcc.edu Shane Anderson Biology Department, University of California at Santa Barbara anderson@lifesci.ucsb.edu Genny and Shane are co-awardees, described as "joined at the hip" by their nominator, Dr. Dan Reed. Genny has been the instructor of Marine Biology classes at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) since 1982. Shane has been the Marine Collector/Naturalist at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) since 1975. Both of the Andersons have helped and mentored numerous marine scientists with their education and research. They spend a good part of their life in the field - Genny taking her students on weekly field excursions for laboratory exercises and Shane scuba diving several days a week collecting marine life for classes and research.

2006 Brian Bingham Department of Environmental Sciences , Huxley College of the Environment Western Washington University Brian.Bingham@wwu.edu Brian Bingham is on the Environmental Science faculty at Western Washington University. His research centers on the effects of larval processes on benthic community structure. Since 1991, Brian has directed the Multicultural Initiative in the Marine Sciences Undergraduate Program (MIMSUP) at the Shannon Point Marine Center. The goal of MIMSUP is to increase the participation of individuals from underrepresented groups in the marine sciences. MIMSUP was recognized as a national model program when the Shannon Point Marine Center received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math, and Engineering Mentoring.

2005 James M. (Jim) Watanabe Lecturer, Marine Ecology & Invertebrate Zoology Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University watanabe@stanford.edu Jim's background and research interests lie in the fields of invertebrate zoology and marine ecology, with particular emphasis on kelp forests and rocky intertidal communities. Prior to joining the faculty at Hopkins Marine Station in 1994, he directed the research program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for 10 years. Jim has conducted research on the distribution and abundance of kelp forest invertebrates, the dynamics of sea urchin-mediated deforestations, and the physiological ecology of kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera and Pterygophora californica). These studies have focused on predator-prey interactions, interspecific competition, and the effects of disturbance on marine organisms. He is also interested in the statistical problems of detecting changes in natural populations through time. Dr. Watanabe's primary responsibility at Hopkins Marine Station is undergraduate teaching. His courses attempt to nurture an appreciation for the natural world through accumulation of detailed knowledge and hands-on experience.

2004 Kathy Ann Miller Research Associate, University Herbarium University of California at Berkeley kathyannmiller@berkeley.edu The year she received the Naturalist of the Year award Kathy Ann was at the Wrigley Marine Science Center, on Santa Catalina Island, where she was in charge of research activities at the lab, taught a course in the natural history of Catalina, and advised independent research for USC (University of Southern California) students. In the fall of 2004 Kathy Ann moved to UC Berkeley to work in the University Herbarium, curating seaweed collections, old and new. She continues to teach field courses, conduct intertidal and subtidal surveys, and study the seaweeds of California.

2003 Jeanne Bellemin Professor of Zoology, Natural Science Division El Camino College, Torrance, California jbellemi@elcamino.edu Jeanne Bellemin is a zoologist with extreme interest in tortoises, other reptiles, insects and other invertebrate animals. Ms. Bellemin received her B. S. in Zoology and her M.S. degrees in Biology from Cal Poly Pomona, and did graduate work at UCLA. As a field biologist her specialty is field classes which include Field Zoology, Field Entomology and the Marine Biology Laboratory. Her other courses include Marine Biology Lecture and Environmental Biology. In 1998 Ms. Bellemin developed the Alondra Park Island Native Plant Garden for her students in Environmental Biology and other students in field and Horticulture classes. She is also part of a team that conducts classes at the Madrona Marsh Nature Center in Environmental Restoration and Nature Interpretation. Jeanne is a spectacular teacher known for taking her students on trips all over the world.

2002 John M. (Jack) Engle Associate Research Biologist, Marine Science Institute University of California, Santa Barbara j_engle@lifesci.ucsb.edu Jack has been active in intertidal and subtidal ecology and monitoring programs in California for more than 30 years, based at the USC Marine Lab at Santa Catalina Island (1971-88) and UC Santa Barbara (since 1989). Among his varied marine life surveys, Jack has directed the Channel Islands Research Program (over 175 scuba diving expeditions to the 8 islands) and coordinated the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network (90 monitoring sites). Jack is widely respected for his extensive natural history knowledge of marine plants, invertebrates and fishes, for his mentoring of numerous volunteers, students and biologists, and for his assistance in educational wildlife film productions.

2001 Pamela (Pam) Roe Professor of Zoology California State University, Stanislaus pam@science.csustan.edu Pam's interests focus on invertebrates, with emphasis on marine invertebrate natural history and ecology. Pam is co-author of the nemertean chapter for the fourth edition of Light's Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon. This book includes keys, descriptions and pictures of the benthic invertebrates of central California's coastline. The nemertean chapter included some name changes and several additional species. Pam is also researching specimens of deep sea pelagic nemerteans collected off California and Hawaii since fall 1992, and has found many specimens that are almost certainly new species. Pam is recognized for her exceptional ability to provide opportunities for students from Stanislaus State University in California to visit marine habitats where they can experience the real joys of nature.

2000 Chuck Baxter charles.baxter@comcast.net >From 1961 to 1993 Chuck taught biology at Stanford and Hopkins Marine Station focusing on structure and function of animals, how they evolved, how they operated in natural systems and human impacts on those systems. For a few years around 1980 he was part of the concept and planning group for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. From 1988 to 1996 he had a part time appointment at MBARI doing benthic ecology in the Monterey Canyon. From 1996 to 2003 Chuck did concept and content development for Sea Studios Foundation television production company. In 2004 Chuck participated in the Sea of Cortez Expedition and Education Project doing historical ecology retracing the Steinbeck and Ricketts 1940 cruise. This transitioned into an affiliation with Bill Gilly’s lab on the Dosidicus (squid) enigma, teaching Holistic Biology and cognitive studies on how the mind creates a naturalist.

1999 Larry Harris Professor of Zoology, Department of Zoology University of New Hampshire lharris@cisunix.unh.edu As an inspirational teacher with a focus on invertebrate associations and the ecology of marine benthic communities, Larry's primary focus is on the ecology of species-specific, predator-prey associations and the role of predation in early community succession. His favorite groups for research are cnidarians and nudibranchs, both predators. He also continues some long-term subtidal community studies using both fouling panels and benthic communities. The manipulations involve substrate angle, predator access and depth. Three separate studies have been underway since the late 1970s and are becoming increasingly valuable for observing long-term trends and investigating the roles of new invaders into the Gulf of Maine system. More recently Larry has interested in understanding how sustained species exploitation by man influences community structure. He is presently trying to use this knowledge to develop an integrated approach for enhancing recruitment and growth of sea urchins that might result in a sustainable fishery with healthy benthic communities. Larry is one of the most effective mentors of natural history in the country, his undergraduates give posters and talks at national meetings every year and scores of his undergraduates have gone on to great careers in many disciplines.