A. Starker Leopold

A. Starker Leopold known for his conservation efforts and contribution to wilderness areas. Aldo Starker Leopold (October 22, 1913 – August 23, 1983) was an American author, forester, zoologist and conservationist. Leopold served as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, for thirty years within the Zoology, Conservation, and Forestry departments. Throughout his life, Leopold was a public face for science. He was active in numerous wildlife and conservation groups and made significant research contributions in ornithology, mammalogy, and wildlife ecology. As a result of his father's employment by the United States Forest Service, Starker spent his early childhood in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When Starker was eleven years old, the Leopold family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, as his father took a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin in 1924.

As Starker spent his early boyhood fishing on the Rio Grande River and hunting in the oak and prairie country of Madison, Wisconsin, he learned to feel secure in nature from a young age. It is clear that Starker's passion for nature was instilled during his childhood, spent with his distinguished father.

Education He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in 1936, and then studied at the Yale Forestry School before transferring to the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his Ph.D. in Zoology in 1944. With the help of professors, Joseph Grinnell and Alden H. Miller, and his specific interest in ornithology, he completed his dissertation research on the nature of heritable wildness in turkeys. The findings in his research are credited as a major contribution to the understanding of wild avian biology and behavior. The main concepts of the report surrounded the goals, policies, and methods of wildlife management in national parks. It was recommended that the current method of wildlife protection alone was unsatisfactory and that the goal of the parks should be to preserve or, where necessary, recreate habitats that support native species, along with the regulation of animal populations to prevent habitat damage.

In 1964, the Advisory Board and Leopold scrutinized the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Branch of Predatory and Rodent Control for excessive killing of animals that have not caused damage or danger to the public. This report is considered one of the most critical and intense assessments of a United States federal agency regarding the responsibility of animal control.

In addition to the more than 100 scientific papers he authored, Leopold wrote five books during his life, he was working on a sixth at the time of his death. While his writings were not at the forefront in the scientific community, his later works started to focus less on research and more on developing public policy. Leopold took ideas in the scientific community and launched them into political arena, forming many policies that still stand today.

Professional and public service Leopold was also an active member of numerous conservation committees and organizations, including This ideology is still currently used as part of the National Park Service's mission of supplying rigorous and timely scientific information to park managers to continue the preservation of parks for future generations.

Honors and distinctions A. Starker Leopold was a recipient of multiple honors and distinctions throughout his successful career, including

Guggenheim Fellow (1947) (Field of Study: Organismic Biology & Ecology) Fellow, American Ornithologists' Union (1959) Department of Interior Conservation Award (1964) Aldo Leopold Medal of The Wildlife Society for "Service to Wildlife Conservation" (1965) Audubon Society Medal (1966) Honorary Member, the Wildlife Society (1969) Election to the National Academy of Sciences (1970) California Academy of Sciences Fellows Medal (1970) Winchester Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Wildlife Management (1974) Berkely Citation, University of California (1978) Wildlife Society Publication Award (1979) American Institute of Biological Sciences, Distinguished Service Award (1980) Occidental College, Honorary Doctoral Degree (1980) Edward W. Browning Award for Conserving the Environment, Smithsonian Institution and the New York Community Trust (1980)