2022 Herbert W. Kale, II Award – Thomas Scott Hoctor

Dr. Thomas Scott Hoctor had an auspicious start to a trajectory that eventually landed this Kale nomination: At Astronaut High School in Titusville, he excelled in both athletics and academics—honored as All-State in football, All-District in tennis AND Valedictorian of Class of ‘85. He continued on the gridiron at Harvard as he studied American history and biology and later earned both his graduate degrees in wildlife ecology and conservation at University of Florida.

Tom has been associated with UF since the 1990s and has worn many hats. Currently, in the Department of Landscape Architecture, he serves as Research Associate Professor, Ph.D. Program Coordinator, and Director, Center for Landscape Conservation Planning. Beginning as a graduate student and continuing until today, Tom has co-taught a variety of courses in wildlife and planning. Specifically, he teaches Environmental Planning and Design Studios (LAA 4356 and LAA 6656), Landscape Management (LAA 2352), the Conservation Ecology Module of the online Ecological Issues in Sustainability course (DCP 6205) and Directed Study (LAA 6905) courses related to Conservation Biology, Landscape Ecology, ecological connectivity, green infrastructure, etc. upon request with specific graduate students. He has served on 8 Ph.D. and 15 masters committees, mostly in landscape architecture.

During his career, Tom served as principal investigator or team member of dozens of projects with federal, state, and local agencies, and non-government organizations. Some examples include: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Hillsborough County, and The Nature Conservancy. More specifically: National Wildlife Refuge Association Landscape Conservation Design, The Florida Strategic Plan for Sustaining Military Readiness through Conservation Partnerships, Florida Wildlife Corridor, Critical Lands and Waters Identification, Florida Ecological Greenways Network, Hillsborough County Conservation Priority Areas, Polk County Habitat Conservation Plan, Greenways Program, Conservation Trust for Florida, Northwest Florida Wildlife Corridor Priorities, Gopher Tortoise Payment for Ecological Services program, Florida Panther Outreach, Planning for Sea Level Rise in the Matanzas Basin Project, Northwest Florida Green Infrastructure GIS Database, Cooperative Conservation Blueprint Regional Pilot Project, Florida Ecological Greenways Update Project, Heartland 2060 Ecological Prioritization, Ecological Connectivity Priorities for Babcock Ranch, Regional Gopher Tortoise Habitat Modeling Project, Southwest Florida Water Management District Conservation Land Acquisition Reassessment, Swallow-tailed Kite Regional Habitat Analysis Project, and MORE!

Tom has delivered more than 100 conferences presentations and seminars and published more than 50 contributions (peer-reviewed journal papers, technical reports, book chapters, conference proceedings, etc.).

Tom’s most important accomplishment is the Florida Ecological Greenways Network. In 1995, he served as a key member of a research team tasked to apply Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify opportunities to develop both a statewide trail network and to protect large, intact landscapes integrated into a functionally connected network of conservation lands across Florida. Tom later led the updates of the FEGN, incorporating his knowledge of the Florida Panther and Black Bear. This later spawned his co-founding of Florida Wildlife Corridor Project, an education and outreach campaign to increase awareness and foster action to protect the most important wildlife corridors across the state of Florida.

In summary: After retiring his helmet and pads, Tom Hoctor studied under the first Herbert Kale awardee, Larry Harris, at UF and also collaborated with David Maehr, another student of Dr. Harris and the 2009 posthumous Kale honoree. For his many years of applying his expertise to advocate for Florida’s wildlife, he deserves to join these and the other wildlife distinguished professionals as the 2022 Herbert Kale, II Awardee.

For more information:

http://www.landscope.org/florida/priorities/data/ecological_greenways_network/

http://www.floridawildlifecorridor.org/.