Dennis Krusac, Endangered Species Specialist in the
Southern Region, was honored as the U.S. Forest Service's 2008 recipient of the American
Recreation Coalition's (ARC) Legends Award. The Legends Awards recognize outstanding
federal employees for their efforts to enhance the nation's outdoor recreation
opportunities and resources. Mr. Krusac's development of outreach programs for mentally and physically challenged
children, as well as minority students, and widely emulated accessible fishing facilities for
children, senior citizens and disabled anglers were highlighted during the ceremony. He was applauded for his
significant contributions to the success of the 2007 Atlanta Recreation Forum, which provided a
showcase of his efforts to reach minority youth in Atlanta ... Mr. Krusac's work with inner-city Atlanta minority
youth culminated in a 2008 "More Kids in the Woods" $80,000 grant focused on minority teens
in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation and several other non-traditional partners.
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Photo - left to right: ARC President Derrick Crandall, Dennis Krusac, Deputy Chief for the
National Forest System Joel Holtrop.
Chester O. Martin, Senior Wildlife Biologist for the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Vicksburg, Mississippi, was presented an SBDN Certificate of
Appreciation in late January 2008 upon the occasion of his retirement after
37 years of federal service. The Certificate, presented before a large
gathering of family, colleagues and friends at the Engineer Research and
Development Center, cited Chester's many contributions to bat conservation,
education and management including mentoring students and professionals,
acting as an advocate for bats on Corps and military installation lands,
serving as President of the National Military Wildlife Association, and as
founder of the Mississippi Bat Working Group. SBDN members in attendance
included Mary Kay Clark, Alison McCartney, Darren Miller, and David Saugey.
Photo - left to right: Mary Kay Clark, Southeastern Bat Conservation
Director, Chester Martin, and SBDN/ member and MSBWG Vice-Chair Alison McCartney.
Indiana Professor Timothy Carter Receives
2006 Community Partner Award From Wildlife Habitat Council.
Timothy C. Carter, Ph.D. (right) received international recognition as the 2006 Community
Partner of the Year from the Wildlife Habitat Council
(WHC) for contributions to wildlife
habitat conservation and environmental education at the Unimin Corporation's Tamms/Elco
Plant in southern Illinois. The Community Partner of the Year award goes to one
organization or individual for making a significant contribution to a corporate site's
wildlife habitat enhancement programs.
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A mutual interest in bat conservation made it easy for Dr. Carter to strike up a
relationship with the Tamms/Elco's wildlife restoration program in 1998 where the wildlife
team had initiated a bat habitat restoration program. Dr. Carter has worked extensively on
the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and helped to restore the abandoned
mines at Tamms/Elco as habitats for the Indiana bat and other types of bats most notably
at Unimin's abandoned Magazine Mine. The ongoing effort at that mine has gained Dr.
Carter widespread recognition for helping to restore populations of the Indiana bat.
Speaking about Dr. Carter, Rick Fox, head of the wildlife team says, "You need to get
out of his way!" As a dedicated community partner, Tim has taken visitors into the
Tamms/Elco mines, developed educational activities for a great variety of visiting groups
and media, including the Chicago Tribune and Smithsonian magazine. His dedication to and
enthusiasm for the Tamms/Elco wildlife restoration efforts is also evident through his
facilitation of academic research. He has advised two Southern Illinois University
graduate thesis projects and worked with groups from the University of Illinois, Humboldt
State University and Indiana Bat Recovery Team on utilizing the mines for research.
Dr. Carter, an Assistant Professor at Ball State University, is an expert in his academic
field of zoology and has published widely on bat conservation.
Dr. Darren Miller received the American Forest &
Paper Asociation's 2006 Wildlife Stewardship Award,
at the 2006 SFI Program Annual Conference, on October 4th, 2006. This award recognizes
significant achievements in the science and
practice of wildlife management, and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program's goal of continuous
improvement in forest resource management. In the award announcement letter,
Dr. Miller was particularly commended for his commitment
to sound science and
dedication to increasing the understanding of bats and their conservation on managed forests. About his award,
Dr. Miller thanks the members of BCI, MSBWG and SBDN for their support that made the award possible
and he says: "... I feel like I accepted this on behalf of many."
David Saugey (left), a career U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist
recently received the Southern Regional Forester's Conservation
Education Award. He received the honor from Regional Forester Bob
Jacobs at a ceremony in Atlanta. Saugey of the Jessieville-Winona
Ranger District of the Ouachita National Forest in Arkansas, was cited
for his continuous public education efforts on behalf of forests and
wildlife, especially bats. During the past 15 years, Saugey has
presented hundreds of programs at schools, museum events, to nature
clubs, civic clubs and various other venues to an audience estimated at
over 40,000 attendees.
Dr. Wayne H. Davis (right) is a retired Professor of Biology who taught at the
University of Kentucky from the early 1960s till he retired in December
1994. Wayne contributed numerous papers on bat biology and natural
history including pioneering work on homing behavior and migration of
bats. Wayne conducted exhaustive banding studies of bats early in his
career that have helped provide numerous longevity records for bats
recaptured decades later. Wayne coauthored several texts on bats,
including Bats of America that was published in 1969. Perhaps less well
known are Wayne's contributions to the genesis of the North American
Symposium on Bat Research which annually brings together hundreds of
scientists and managers to discuss topics related to bats, and the
publication Bat Research News, a quarterly periodical that he founded in
1960 as Bat Banding News.
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On February 17, 2007, the previous year's award winner, Dr. Darren A. Miller,
(Southern Wildlife Project Manager for Weyerhaeuser Company) presented the 2007
Service Award to Dr. Tim Carter (Ball State University). This was the
second such award to be given to a member or supporter of the SBDN. The
award was created to recognize outstanding service and contributions to the
organization. Tim has been an active SBDN member since its inception and
has facilitated the group's efforts in many ways, including serving on the
Board of Directors, as Treasurer, and a member of multiple committees. The
award was a beautiful framed color photograph of an Indiana bat, (Myotis
sodalis) with a dated plate on the frame describing the service award.
Photo - left to right: Matina Kalcounis-Rüppell (UNC-Greensboro),
Darren Miller, Tim Carter, Troy Best (Auburn U.).
Alison McCartney (formerly Sherman) and Darren Miller jointly received the Chester O.
Martin Award for outstanding service to the MS Bat Working Group.
The awards were
presented by the working group's founder,
Chester Martin (right) on Jan. 18, 2007 at the MBWG
annual meeting in Jackson, MS (MS Museum of Natural Science).
On February 16, 2006 the SBDN President, Dr. Troy Best (Auburn
University) presented a Service Award to Dr. Darren A. Miller (left), Southern
Wildlife Project Manager for Weyerhaeuser Company. This was the first
such award to be given to a member or supporter of the SBDN. The award
was created to recognize outstanding service and contributions to the
organization. Darren has been an active SBDN member for many years and
has facilitated the group's efforts in many ways, including providing
conference call service for various SBDN committees over the years and
funding student participation at bat blitzes. The award was a beautiful
framed color photograph of a red bat, (Lasiurus borealis)
with a dated bronze
plate on the frame describing the service award.
In 2003 Dr. Michael J. "Mick" Harvey (center; right - Mary Kay Clark; left -
Darren Miller) was recognized by the Southeastern
Bat Diversity Network for his lifetime commitment to bat research and
conservation activities in the Southeastern United States. The award
was presented during the 8th annual SBDN and 13th annual Colloquium on
the Conservation of Mammals. He received his BS in 1958. Dr. Harvey
attended Stephen F. Austin University for his M.S. under Dr. Robert
Packard. In 1966 he joined the faculty of Memphis State University and
was awarded his Ph.D. in 1967 from the University of Kentucky where he
worked under Dr. Roger Barbour. Dr. Harvey became Professor of Biology
at Memphis State in 1975 and in 1985 moved to Tennessee Tech University
as Biology Department Chair where he is now a Professor Emeritus and
Senior Affiliate Faculty member.
Dr. Harvey counting bats in a cave.
John MacGregor (right) is recognized nationally as an authority on amphibians,
reptiles and bats. His areas of expertise include fungi, orchids, land
snails, amphibians, reptiles and mammals, especially bats. He has
written and/or contributed to dozens of papers and oral presentations on
Kentucky's fauna and flora. John has been particularly commendable in
his willingness to pass on his knowledge through his presentation of
slide-illustrated talks to groups of any size. Many of John's
presentations have been at regional and national meetings. John
arguably may be responsible for a greater contribution to our overall
knowledge of Kentucky's fauna and flora than any other individual during
the past two decades. Based on these accomplishments and many more not
categorized here, John R. MacGregor was chosen to receive the 2001
Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission Biological Diversity
Protection Award.
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