Nomination Statement for Dr. Reed Noss, Recipient of the Florida Chapter of The Wildlife Society’s 2020 Herbert W. Kale, II Award

As detailed below, during the last decade and a half, Reed Noss has indeed made a significant contribution to the conservation of Florida's natural resources. And he has these two significant connections: He worked with Herbert Kale II on the Florida Breeding Bird Atlas and Larry D. Harris, the inaugural recipient of this award, served as his doctoral co-advisor at University of Florida.

Dr. Noss grew up in southwestern Ohio, spending most of his free time in nature and learning how to identify trees from his grandfather. Early on he developed a keen interest in reptiles, amphibians, and fossil Paleozoic invertebrates, which were abundant in that region. He began his career as an interpretive naturalist, working as a science counselor at a summer cap in central Ontario, a naturalist at a nature preserve in Ohio, and, after obtaining a B.S. degree in education at the University of Dayton, a teacher-naturalist at an outdoor school. After earning a M.S. degree in ecology from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, he returned to Ohio to work as a naturalist for Ohio State Parks and as an ecologist with the Ohio Natural Heritage Program. He then moved to Florida, where he worked for the Florida Natural Areas Inventory and earned his Ph.D. degree in wildlife ecology at the University of Florida.

After teaching biology a couple semesters at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida, Dr. Noss took a job as Biodiversity Project Leader for the USEPA at their Environmental Research Laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon. By this time he had become active in the new field of conservation biology and in the Society for Conservation Biology. Frustrated by the political interference and censorship, he left his job with the USEPA but remained in Oregon for another dozen years, working as a self-employed conservation consultant (for state and federal agencies, environmental NGOs, and others), for the National Gap Analysis Program of the U.S. Department of Interior (part-time), and as editor-in-chief of Conservation Biology, the leading journal in the field. He then served as president of the Society for Conservation Biology and later as president of its North American Section. While in Oregon he was an adjunct and courtesy professor at both the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, teaching conservation biology and mentoring several graduate students.

Dr. Noss returned to Florida in 2002 to serve as the Davis-Shine Endowed Professor and Provost's Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Central Florida (UCF). There he had many graduate students and taught several courses, including conservation biology, ornithology, and ecosystems of Florida. He left UCF in 2017 to return to self-employment as a conservation consultant and president of the Florida Institute for Conservation Science. His current research interests center on disturbance ecology (especially fire ecology) and ecosystem-level conservation, especially conservation and restoration of grasslands, forests, and shrublands. In 2006, he edited Land of Fire and Water: The Florida Dry Prairie Ecosystem. His most recently published books are Forgotten Grasslands of the South: Natural History and Conservation (Island Press, 2013) and Fire Ecology of Florida and the Southeastern Coastal Plain (University Press of Florida, 2018). He is currently working on a book on the endangered ecosystems of North America.

Books: 8 plus 1 in preparation
Refereed Journal Articles: 112
Book Chapters: 64
Technical Reports: 79
Other Articles (magazine articles, editorials, book reviews, forewords): 76

Courses Taught at University of Central Florida, Department of Biology:

Seminar in Conservation Biology (2003); Conservation Planning (2003); Field Botany (2003); History of Ecology and Conservation Biology (2004, 2006); Ornithology (2005); Field Ornithology (2004, 2007, 2010, 2014); Conservation Biology Theory (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016); Conservation Biology Practice (2006); Ecosystems of Florida (2013, 2015)

At UCF, advised four M.Sc. and seven Ph.D. students primarily with Florida-based avian and mammalian research topics.

Grant-Funded Projects Directed as Principal Investigator or Co-P.I. Since 1995

About $4 million for projects largely focused on wildlife – highway conflicts and mitigation


Additional Florida Employment

1999-present. Chief Scientist, Conservation Science, Inc. Corvallis, Oregon, and Chuluota, Florida

1984-1988. President and Ecologist, Landscape Ecosystems (consulting firm), Gainesville, Florida

1987-1988. Staff Ecologist, KBN Engineering & Applied Sciences, Inc., Gainesville, Florida

1983-1984. Managed Area Specialist, Florida Natural Areas Inventory, The Nature Conservancy, Tallahassee, FL


Organizations

2016-present. Member, Advisory Board, Conservation Trust for Florida

2016-2017. Member, Board of Directors, Allen Broussard Conservancy, Inc. (Forever Florida)

2015-present. Member, Chairman’s Council, Board of Trustees, Florida Chapter, The Nature Conservancy

2012-2014. Member, Executive Board, Florida Climate Institute, State University System of Florida.

2008-2016. Member, Technical Advisory Group, Critical Lands and Waters Identification Project (CLIP), State of Florida

2007-2013. Member, Steering Committee and Technical Committee, Florida Bird Conservation Initiative, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

2006-2007. Member, Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC). Appointed by Governor Jeb Bush. (This is the decision-making body for conservation land acquisitions and management plans in Florida)

2005-2006. Member, Steering Committee, Naturally Central Florida, myregion.org

2004-2006. Member, Board of Trustees, Florida Chapter, The Nature Conservancy

2002-2014. Member, Florida Grasshopper Sparrow Working Group (interagency); Chair of Working Group 2002-2008

2002-2005. Member, Florida Forever Work Group, Florida Natural Areas Inventory, Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)

2002-2006. Member, Brevard County Conservation Working Group (Brevard County, FL)

2003-2007. Member, Conservation Committee, Florida Native Plant Society

Selected Honors

2019. George Fell Award, Natural Areas Association

NAA’s highest award honors an individual for exceptional accomplishments in the natural areas profession. It recognizes an individual’s exceptional contributions to research, methods, education or policy that advance knowledge in the identification, protection and stewardship of natural areas.

2011. Outstanding Alumnus Award, University of Florida, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

2001-present. Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science

1999-present. Elected Scientific Fellow, Wildlife Conservation Society

1995. Edward T. LaRoe III Memorial Award of the Society for Conservation Biology

1987. President's Recognition Award, University of Florida