About Randall L.
Eaton, Ph.D. Plus Administrative,
Management and
Leadership Experience
“I have known
Randy well...a genius, innovative, caring...an exceptional leader...able to
bring the best out of people.”
James W. Foster, DVM, President, American Assoc Zoo Vets
“I have
admired the originality and boldness of your work...one of the few truly
humanistic scientists.”
Edward O. Wilson, Harvard
“I know him well. I
have taught with him. I have read his publications, though not all. I have
seen him work. I know his abilities… He is simply one of the most committed,
best organized, highest energy, and most interesting people I have ever had
the pleasure of meeting.”
Craig Thompson, Chairman of the Board,
National Wildlife Federation
“A man of great breadth and depth, a man who
brings a unique perspective to higher education... Randy is a man of great
heart and integrity. An accomplished author and speaker, he is comfortable
dealing with everyone from youngsters to hard-nosed media types who've seen
and heard it all… great energy, wit, understanding and perseverance…”
Dan
Small, Ph.D., Dan Small Outdoor Productions
“Extremely
energetic, very intelligent and highly motivated...never runs out of ideas or
enthusiasm, an excellent and stimulating teacher.”
Ernest E. Provost, Professor of Zoology, U. Georgia
“Over the past 15
years I’ve video recorded many well known speakers –
Deepok Chopra,
John Gray, Ram Dass – but rarely if ever have I heard
anyone speak so
eloquently.”
Mark
Waters, High Country Productions
“I have known Randy since
1975 when I came to the University
of Washington to work
(study) with him… has a passion that does not quit…highly effective communicator…insightful
and
intelligent…an excellent
speaker, confident and thoughtful…a remarkable human being
with firm beliefs and a commitment to change
the world.”
Samuel Wasser, Ph.D., Endowed
Chair in Conservation Biology,
University of Washington
Randall
Eaton holds an international reputation in animal behavior, human behavioral
evolution and wildlife conservation. He also has made contributions to
environmental ethics, anthropology, history of science, semiotics,
prehistoric art, mythology, comparative religion, Native American studies and
men´s studies. Dr. Eaton has held faculty positions in psychology, zoology, wildlife
and humanities at University of Washington, University of
Georgia, Florida Atlantic
University, etc., and has held adjunct posts at University
of Alberta, U.C.L.A., Oregon State University, Evergreen State College, etc. At University of Washington,
Eaton´s overall instruction was rated by students among the 92nd
percentile of faculty campus-wide.
Courses taught: introductory psychology, developmental
psychology, educational
psychology, philosophy of education, zoology, wildlife
biology, forest recreation; mammalogy; marine mammalogy; animal behavior,
sociobiology; human social behavior; environmental studies,
environmental ethics, animals and attitudes, science and western
civilization, hunting societies, scientist as philosopher, prehistoric art,
science for humanists, philosophy of Ortega y Gasset; Research Methods in Transcendental Psychology; numerous seminars.
Continuing and adult education courses taught: cats, wild
and domestic; behavior of whales and dolphins; wildlife conservation; a
circle of men; lions and wolves, orcas and humans; pros and cons of hunting;
zoo animal behavior.
.
Randall Eaton was nominated by V.P. Nelson
Rockefeller as Chief, Office of Endangered Species, USDI, and was invited to
apply for a tenured position in vertebrate behavior at Harvard by Edward O.
Wilson.
Two of the 15 books he authored or edited won
national awards. He has received awards for his magazine writing.
Dr. Eaton published 115 papers in refereed journals including Science,
Journal Wildlife Management, Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie, Evolution, J.
History Behavioral Sciences, etc. His popular communications have
appeared in Sports Illustrated, New York Times, Utne Reader,
Magical Blend, Das Tier, Jack and Jill, Cat Fancy, National Parks
Magazine, Defenders of Wildlife News, Bugle, African Wildlife,
IHEA Journal, etc. Many websites post his writing.
Recent reprints have appeared in Animal Ethics and the
magazine of the United Methodist Men’s organization.
“He may well be the next Loren Eiseley,
who, until I read Dr. Eaton’s work,
in my mind had no peer.”
Michael W. Fox, Humane Society of U.S.
“...an important work...does not compromise accuracy and detail.”
John F. Eisenberg, Smithsonian magazine
“Selected in this issue as outstanding scientific/technical book of the
year.”
Library Journal
“He’s such a good story teller I thought he must be from the South.”
Ken Wilber, Editor, Shambala Press
He has received 13 awards for his TV documentary
productions. His film, “Orca – The Sacred Whale,” won first place among
natural history broadcasts in 2000. Randall Eaton also produced The Sacred
Hunt, which won 11 awards and is the all-time, top-selling production about
hunting. It received rave reviews in 176 newspapers and magazines in North America.
“A great documentary.”
The Nashville
Network
“Convincing...well-filmed, well-edited celebration of wildlife
Recommended for all ages.”
Library Journal
“This great video is among the best videos I have ever seen.”
New York
Post
“Deserves an Oscar.”
Marin Independent Journal
Single-handedly, he founded and presided over the
15,000-member Orca Society for the Study and Conservation of Marine Mammals, headquartered at University of Washington.
Randall conceived and edited the Society´s popular
science magazine, Orca – Whales and Humans, which was widely
acclaimed.
“Slick, color, Orca purveys information
and inspiration about America’s
favorite totem, the dolphins and whales.”
Co-Evolution
Quarterly
“As good as it is beautiful.”
Whale Protection Fund
Dr. Eaton conceived, published and edited the
interdisciplinary journal, Carnivore: Interfacing Biology, Anthropology
and Environmental Studies, the editorial board of which included Oxford´s
Nobel laureate, Niko Tinbergen, Harvard´s Pulitzer prize-winning author, Ed
Wilson, and Pulitzer prize-winning poet and environmental philosopher, Gary
Snyder, and the foremost evolutionary biologists and anthropologists in the
world.
“Quality format, wide-ranging scholarly
papers and provocative editorials.”
New Magazine Review
Randall Eaton organized a lecture series on The
Human/Animal Connection with Gary Snyder, Michael W. Fox and others, and
edited the proceedings for publication. He also organized a lecture
series and symposium on Animals as Teachers with Snyder, the original human
ecologist, Paul Shepard, and anthroplogist Richard Nelson, among others.
“The best symposium I have been part of.”
Gary Snyder
Starting in the early l970s, Randall organized and
funded a series of four international conferences on the world´s wild cats,
their behavior, ecology and conservation, and he edited the proceedings as The
World´s Cats. His efforts led to formation of the IUCN Cat Group
(Eaton served on the SSC of the IUCN), to protection of spotted cats from
illicit poaching, first in the US then internationally through
CITIES. When subsequent studies by himself and
others indicated that the leopard was not endangered or threatened in
sub-Saharan Africa he led scientific efforts
to get the leopard reestablished as a trophy species so as to assist wildlife
conservation in third world nations. He conducted the first study of the
economic importance of trophy hunting to conservation of wildlife in
sub-Saharan Africa.
“Tradition of excellence in these
volumes.”
Animal Behaviour
“Among efforts to preserve all cat species are the symposia organized by
Eaton...highly recommended.”
Quarterly Review of Biology
Dr. Eaton was a cofounder and president of ISCES
(Institute for Study and Conservation of Endangered Species), which conducted
field studies in Latin America of jaguar, ocelot and maned wolf and which
conducted successful propagation programs for endangered
species.
In the mid-80s, he co-founded and directed the Asian
Elephant Survival Fouundation. He funded its field investigation of elephants
in Nepal.
To curtail ivory purchase, the Foundation launched a successful publicity
campaign under the theme, “What You Buy Changes the World,” which was adopted
by the World Wildlife Fund.
Eaton conceived and directed the Orca Project, a volunteer
study of wild orca whales, from l982 to 2010 in Puget Sound and northern British Columbia. Each
summer 125 volunteers from North America and UK joined Eaton in the field
where they camped, assisted in field observations, cooked meals, caught fish,
received instruction in orca/dolphin/whale behavior, intelligence,
communication and conservation as well as interaction with humans across time
and space. Volunteers also learned about sacred traditions of native peoples
and were taught by them. Eaton and his volunteer crew actually
befriended wild orcas in l985, an event heralded in over 250 newspapers in North America.
“The most meaningful experience of my life.”
Dr. Michael Schmidt
“You offer more bubble gum for the brain than anyone I know.”
Steve Klaven, senior, Western Washington University
From 2005 to 2007, Eaton
conducted field research on a new race of orca which he discovered in Costa Rica.
Randall Eaton was a leader in redefining zoo philosophy and
goals toward naturalism and social behavior. He conceived the Master Plan for
the renovation of Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, first in America to be
elevated from a class B to a Class A zoo. He conceived, designed,
developed, directed and successfully promoted Wildlife Safari in Oregon which
received international recognition for being the first zoological center in
the western hemisphere to successfully breed the cheetah on a large scale.
Located six hours from the closest metro area, professional economic analyses
projected 160,000 visitors in the first year of operation of the wildlife
park, which actually attracted 300,000. Eaton is convinced that it was his
publicity tours including appearances or interviews on every major TV and
radio station and newspaper in the San Francisco
Bay area, Sacramento,
Seattle, Portland
and Reno that
accounted for the difference.
“More than anyone in the world, Randy was responsible during this
seminal period in providing leadership to the new philosophy of zoos of
all kinds by emphasizing naturalistic environments and meeting the
behavioral needs of animals.”
James W. Foster, DVM, President, Am. Assoc Zoo Veterinarians
“Always been impressed by his creativity, dedication...and excellent
understanding of the needs of both people and
animals.”
David Hancocks, Director, Woodland
Park Zoo
Eaton co-produced and
wrote the script for the world’s first self-guided tape tour for Lion Country
Safari and later for the safari park he directed in Oregon. He was a
planning consultant for Northwest Trek in Washington State,
an exhibit design consultant for the St. Louis Zoo and co-conceiver of The
Wolf Park. He served on the Conservation Committee of the American Zoo
Association. He also was the Director of the Great Basin Zoological Society
for which he conceived the plan for a bioregional theme park about the native
wildlife, history and cultures of the Great Basin.
For several years Eaton
presided over Wildlife World and Dolphin International which conceived,
developed and promoted bioregional theme attractions which interfaced
history, culture and natural history. Concept and master plans were developed
for “Mountain Kingdom”
and “Desert
Kingdom” in Nevada,
and for “Mayan Kingdom”
in the Yucatan which was developed as “Mundo Maya”near Chichen Itza. Disney World adopted his
concepts for their wildlife
attraction.
The speech he gave at Game Conservation
International alongside Gov. John Connally and actor Jimmy Stewart was broadcast by CBS TV National News.
“It was Dr. Randall L. Eaton of Purdue
University who electrified
the audience.” San Antonio Light
The keynote address he
gave on “Why hunting is good for bad kids” at the Ontario Federation of
Anglers and Hunters annual convention resulted in national and international
publicity ranging from an appearance on “Canada AM” to interviews on
CBC, BBC Radio worldwide news, in all the national papers of Canada and
several Toronto radio stations. Thousands of parents contacted Eaton to know
how to get their sons involved in the outdoors. He has given seminars
and/or keynotes at the annual conferences of The Wildlife Society, Ontario
Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Safari Club International, CIC, Mzuri
Safari Club, B.C. Wildlife Federation, Florida Outdoor Writers Association,
Outdoor Writers Association of America, SEAFWA, Quality Deer Management
Association, Southeast Outdoor Press Association, Western
Hunting/Conservation Expo, Texas Outdoor Writers Association and Ducks
Unlimited’s Leadership Conference, California Outdoor Heritage Alliance and
Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation among others. He has given commencement
addresses in Costa Rica,
Wyoming and to the Regenerative Design
Institute, Marin
County.
He was invited to
participate in the White House Conference on the Future of North American
Wildlife Policy in October, 2008.
Since July of 2007,
Randall has lectured at Furman University, Eastern Kentucky
University, Iowa State
University, Sul Ross State,
Tarleton State, West
Virginia University, Utah
State, University
of Alberta, Sheridan
College and its Gillette campus, Western Wyoming College,
Viterbo University
and University
of Vermont among
others. He also was invited to speak at Humboldt State University;
University of Idaho, Oregon State University; University of Washington, Unity
College; California University of Pennsylvania.
PBS TV´s NOVA interviewed him at the Second CITIES
in Berne about endangered species, and he
starred in and co-produced an ABC TV News award-winning serial for children, “Animals, Animals,Animals.” Fox TV
National News and CBS Radio national news interviewed him about orca whales.
Randall Eaton has been interviewed in Saturday Review, Sports Illustrated,
Omni, National Wildlife, LA Times, NY Times, NY Post, SF Examiner, Washington
Post, Seattle Times, Seattle Post Intelligencer, Oregonian, Eugene
Register-Guard, Sacramento Bee, Vancouver Sun, Denver Post, Rocky Mt News,
etc., also on NPR, CBC and BBC worldwide news among others.
“Randy Eaton has more camera presence and
audience appeal than
anyone we’ve worked with on the show.”
Jake Haselkorn, Producer, ABC TV National News
Dr. Eaton has lectured widely on college campuses, at zoos,
museums and aquariums,
conservation organizations and wilderness/tracking schools. He
was named in the year 2000 as Distinguished Conservationist Lecturer by North Carolina State
University, and in 2002 as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at University of Alberta where he became an adjunct
faculty member. Randall also has been invited to lecture abroad at National University
of Australia and Shanghai East Normal
University. In 2007 he
delivered the annual Brooks Lecture at West Virginia University.
“Dr. Eaton’s keynote address…was terrific…everyone sitting on the
edge of their seats…there may
not be a more dynamic ambassador anywhere
for all that is right and good about hunting.”
Stan Kirkland, President, SEOPA
“A dynamic and inspiring presentation.”
John J. Jackson, former president of SCI, commenting
on Eaton’s address to delegates from 70 nations, CIC
Convention in Slovenia
“Program was great and
extremely well received by a very diverse audience
...ability to combine the scientific with the philosophic and make it
popular...a very powerful speaker.”
Thane Maynard, Director of Conservation, Cincinnati Zoo
“Over the past 15 years I’ve video recorded many well known speakers –
Deepok Chopra, John Gray, Ram Dass – but rarely if ever have I heard
anyone speak so eloquently.”
Mark
Waters, High Country Productions
“…drew a large and responsive audience. You had them enthralled and if
I had not shut of the discussion, we would have been
there until morning.
We do a lot of programs but seldom get this kind of enthusiasm.”
David Kathka, Ph.D., Dean, Western
Wyoming College
He was awarded a Sacred Pipe in the Cherokee
tradition and has spent much time learning from the Lakota. He underwent
several initiations of the Maya in the Yucatan,
where he planned a bioregional theme park and naturalistic
dolphinarium.
Randall´s education includes a B.A. in biology, minors in
psychology and philosophy, a M.S. in ethology (animal behavior), and a Ph.D.
in ethology and wildlife ecology from Purdue University.
He also conducted graduate study at Oxford
University under Nobel-laureate Niko
Tinbergen and received a Ford Foundation Fellowship in African Big Game
Ecology and Behavior at University
of Nairobi. He
undertook a three-year postdoctoral study in sociobiology at University of Washington. His theories on the
central role hunting, competition with large predators and trophy hunting has
had in evolution of human social behavior have been praised by foremost
biologists Richard Alexander and Edward O. Wilson, among others. He also
wrote a new theory on the origin of art as trophyism which has been
recognized by foremost thinkers in human evolution and anthropology.
Grants written and received, over $1,400,000, from World
Wildlife Fund, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Walker
and Lee Foundation, Owings Foundation, National Institutes of Mental
Health, Lion Country Safari, Pope and Young, Conservation Force,
Shikar-Safari Club, Safari Club International, Winston, Oregon Chamber of
Commerce, Nevada Humanities Council, University of Washington Graduate
School, Mzuri Safari Club Foundation, FNAWS, Dallas Safari Club, Threshold
Foundation (Do-Nuts), etc.
Grant review: NSF; NIH; NIMH; National Geographic
Society; World Wildlife Fund.
Papers read at professional meetings:AAAS symposium;
American Society Mammalogists; AOU; Wildlife Society; American Psychological
Assoc.; AAZPA; Endangered Species Symposium; etc. 2l to date.
Service: Board of Directors, Oregon Museum Science
and Industry; Board of Douglas County Red Cross; Conservation Committee,
American Association Zoos; IUCN Cat Group; Advisor to Conservation Force;
Leader, Wildlife Biology Explorer Troop; Basketball Coach, Country Day
School; Wyoming Humanities Council.
Other experience: deckhand, lifeguard, collegiate athlete,
seasonal ranger-naturalist in Grand Teton National Park, competitive
powerlifter, fitness director and personal trainer, Wildlife Biologist,
heading up team study of status of marine shoreland fauna; Field Biologist,
Illinois Natural History Survey, wood duck study; deer checker for Illinois
and Missouri Departments of Conservation.
Randall Eaton has recently completed From Boys to Men of Heart. He is
convinced that authentic rites of passage for adolescent males are critically
important for the recovery of a sane society and a healthy planet.
“From Boys to Men of Heart is a penetrating and masterful piece of
scholarship that interweaves at least a dozen disciplines into a profound
theory of male development.”
Michael Gurian, best-selling author of The Wonder of Boys
On behalf of Wildlore, Randall mentored people in Europe
and North America in nature connection.
He inspired and is Senior Advisor to HEFTY: Hunter
Education for Troubled Youth, to which the courts in Wyoming are sending juvenile offenders. In
2010, the Wyoming
School for Boys
(juvenile offenders) approved HEFTY as a program, and
recently the Municipal Courts of Denver assigned over 240 adolescent boys to
the program. HEFTY has been opened to kids not in trouble. Two public school
districts have adopted it, and it has spread in two years to six states and
now has 67 instructors.
Randall Eaton has survived the above, and is in excellent
health and spirits. His loves include the cetaceans, the larger felines,
fishing, gardening, hunting, mythology, indigenous wisdom, poetry, pumping
iron, his sons, Drake and Robb, teaching, travel and wilderness. He likes
people.
References from colleagues, former students, mentees and
field research volunteers available on request.
Phone
513-394-0284 or contact randalllewiseaton@gmail.com.
www.randalleaton.com.
Administrative, Management and Leadership
Experience
Undergraduate
At Western
Illinois University,
I was President of Beta, Beta, Beta, the Honorary
Biological Sciences Society, which sponsored the Audubon Screen tour on
campus where we actively promoted the Wilderness Bill.
Graduate School
My first year of graduate study at the University of
Washingotn, I founded and presided over the Conservation, Education and
Action Council with graduate students and faculty from 11 academic
departments. We actively promoted the Wilderness Bill and successfully led a
campaign to save the Pike Street Market. We brought Senator Scoop Jackson,
cosponsor of the Wilderness Bill, to the University
of Washington campus and organized a
press conference resulting in media coverage throughout Puget
Sound.
Intercollegiate Athletics
Elected Captain of basketball team, University of Nairobi, Kenya,
where I also competed
in track and field; elected
Captain of Purdue’s power-lifting team.
International
Conferences Organized Have Global Impact
While a graduate student at Purdue I conceived, organized,
funded and promoted
The First International Conference on the World’s Cats at Laguna Hills, CA,
with
presentations by 30 scientific authorities and 300 people
representing agencies and
NGOs globally. The conference resolutions, post-mortems I
led in Washington,
D.C., public speaking tours and popular writing led
directly to legislation in the U.S. and ultimately
internationally that protected spotted cats and tigers from illicit poaching
for the fur industry. It gave birth to World Wildlife Fund’s Project Tiger
and formation of the Cat Group of the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) of which I was a member. I edited and published
the proceedings, and over the following six years convened two more
conferences and edited and published their proceedings. I managed
the conference, wrote grant proposals to cover travel of
foreign scientists, conducted
press/media interviews, managed
budget, promoted book sales. 1971-77.
Organized
Nationally Televised Fashion Show
To publicize the plight of spotted cats worldwide I
solicited the assistance of
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward to help organize a fashion
show which featured
dyed mink coats that were exact
replicas of wild cat hides. Mary Tyler Moore,
Angie Dickinson, Doris Day and other stars modeled the
coats. Cleveland
Amory narrated the nationally televised broadcast. 1972.
Launched and
Directed Endangered Species Foundation
While teaching at the University of Georgia
I launched, funded and successfully
promoted and directed ISCES (Institute for the Study and
Conservation of Endangered
Species) which conducted field studies of the status of
jaguar, ocelot and maned wolf
in Latin
America. We also exposed illicit smuggling of endangered species
by a ring
of U.S.Customs agents. ISCES
undertook successful propagation programs
for the endangered red wolf and
cheetah. I hired and trained staff, supervised field
research, wrote grant proposals, conducted media/press
interviews, wrote press releases,
managed budgets. 1972-77.
Planned, Directed
and Successfully Promoted Theme Park
While writing my doctoral thesis I conceived, designed,
developed, staffed, successfully
promoted and directed Wildlife Safari in Oregon, a drive-through wildlife park
featuring
Asian and African wildlife. Described by Sports
Illustrated as the best attraction of its
Kind, it consistently received high marks in the national
press and from leaders in the zoo field. Economic projections based on
established market penetration rates of comparable theme attractions
indicated a visitation in the first year of 160,000 people. The park was
located six hours from the Bay area, five hours from Portland. I conducted publicity tours
with as many as 24 interviews in 48 hours in the Bay area,
Sacramento, Reno, Portland and Seattle, resulting in 300,000 visitors the
first year. Comparable attractions spent 25% of their gate revenues on
promotion; we spent 12.5%.
Six months after I arrived in Oregon we had developed the park from the
ground
up: signage; roads; utilities; fences; acquired animal
collection; constructed buildings;
staffed and trained personnel;
and, opened the park in record time.
Under my direction the park set new standards for
exhibition, education, research
and conservation including the first successful
propagation program in the Western
hemisphere for the endangered
cheetah. . Olivia Newton John was featured in an American Sportsman TV
program about the park’s cheetah breeding program. I managed the PR department, supervised 60
employees, supervised construction, wrote development and operating budgets,
P & L. Interfaced the park with agencies, NGOs, press and media,
community life, public schools, higher education and scientific research. I
was a member of the Graduate Faculty of Zoology at Oregon State
University and taught
animal behavior classes at the park. I convened the Second International
Conference on the World’s Cats at the park, and edited and published the
proceedings. 1972 & 73..
Conceived Master
Plan for Woodland
Park Zoo
Pursuing postdoctoral training at University of Washington
I also taught in the
Zoo Animal Behavior Program, and served as a planning
consultant for the master
plan and renovation of Woodland
Park Zoo. The zoo adopted the exhibition themes I
proposed: naturalism and social
behavior. It was the first in American history to be
elevated from a Class B to Class
A zoo. 1974-75.
Team Leader
In conjunction with postdoctoral training at U.W. I was
hired for two years as Team Leader to conduct a survey on the status of
marine fauna for the WA Depts. of Game and
Ecology. I supervised the research of four biologists and
assembled and edited the
two-volume report. 1975-76.
Developed and
Directed Orca Society and Popular Science Magazine
While teaching in wildlife and fisheries at U.W. I
conceived, funded, directed and successfully promoted the Orca Society for
the Study and Conservation of Marine Mammals, a non-profit corporation. We
created two field stations where I taught and mentored student interns, and I
edited the Society’s popular science whale magazine, Orca: Marine Mammals and
Humans. Within six months of inception the Society had 15,000 members. Hired
and trained staff, managed PR and did much public speaking and
media/press interviews, wrote
grant proposals, and managed production of the magazine which received high
marks internationally. 1978-81.
Developed, Edited
and Published Scholarly Journal
The same year I conceived, launched and funded an
interdisciplinary scholarly journal,
Carnivore:
Interfacing Biology, Anthropology and Environmental Studies. The
editorial
Board included the leading evolutionary biologists,
anthropologists and environmentalists
in the world, e.g., Nobel laureate Niko Tinbergen,
Pulitzer prize-winning author Edward
O. Wilson and Pulitzer prize-winning poet Gary Snyder,
among others. Hired and supervised staff, successfully promoted journal
worldwide, solicited manuscripts,
sold advertising, P&L.
1978-87.
Co-Organizer of
Pivotal Whale Conference at Smithsonian
In 1979, I cooperated with the IWC (International Whaling
Commission) to organize an international conference entitled, The Behavior
and Intelligence of Cetaceans and the Ethicsof Killing Them. The
internationally known speakers I invited (Michael W. Fox, Wade Doak, John
Lilly, etc.) were influential in generating the first global protection for
the great whales. 1979 & 80.
Chairman of Natural
Sciences
As Chairman of Natural Sciences at Old College-Reno, I
hired and supervised faculty,
taught classes and promoted the
College. The review process for my nomination to the
status of full professor indicated that I had generated
more publicity (minutes on
radio and TV and inches of copy in major press) than the
rest of the college and law
school faculties combined. I
served on the accreditation committee and also designed
a curriculum in Environmental
Studies. I also conceived, organized and funded a lecture
series on The Human/Animal connection
with luminaries including Gary Snyder and Michael W. Fox, and I edited and
published the proceedings. Then I organized and funded a series of lectures
and a symposium on Animals as Teachers with human ecologist, Paul Shepard,
Gary Snyder, anthropologist Richard Nelson and others. 1981-86.
President and
Director, Great Basin Zoological Society
While teaching at Old College,
I was elected President of the Great Basin Zoological
Society for which I developed a master plan and business
plan for the Great Basin
Wildlife
Park. I assembled a
world class board of advisors including James W. Foster,
DVM, Pulitzer prize-winning poet, Gary Snyder, and animal
welfarist, Michael W. Fox.
I organized monthly programs for the public, generated
much media/press coverage
in northern Nevada,
supervised volunteer staff, and presented plans for approval to
agencies. 1982-85.
Developed and
Directed Long Term Volunteer Field Research Program
While teaching at Old College
I conceived, launched and successfully promoted
the Orca Project as a volunteer field research
organization which conducted studies
in the summer of orca behavior in
British Columbia and Puget
Sound. In l985 we
befriended wild orcas in B.C., an event heralded in over
250 newspapers in North
America.
The Project continued until 2010 and has been widely publicized in the
international press, national TV and radio, e.g., I was
interviewed six times on Coast
to Coast AM, with an audience of 20 million, also on CBS
radio national news,
Fox TV National News and so on. I hired and trained staff,
attracted volunteers
through publicity appearances and press releases, acquired
sponsors of field
equipment, lectured internationally about the project,
wrote a book about it and
produced a TV production, “Orca: The Sacred Whale,” which
received first place
among natural history broadcasts
in 2000. l982-2010.
Launched and
Managed Elephant Survival Foundation
In l985 I co-conceived, launched, funded, directed and
successfully promoted
the Asian Elephant Survival Foundation which publicized
the plight of
the Asian elephant and discouraged ivory purchase with the
theme, “What
you buy changes the world.” I
attracted to the board luminaries including Pulitzer prize-winning poet Gary
Snyder, veterinarian James W. Foster, animal welfarist Michael W. Fox and Ken
Wilber. I wrote grants for and directed field studies of elephants in Nepal.
World Wildlife Fund adopted our theme and mission, a
blessing for the elephants.
1985 & 86.
Directed
Planning/Development Corporation for Bioregional Theme Attraction
In 1987 I conceived, launched, staffed, funded and
directed Wildlife
World and Dolphin International which designed and
developed bioregional
theme attractions in Mexico
including Mayan
Kingdom (Mundo Maya)
and a naturalistic dolphinarium.
I attracted investors, hired, trained and supervised
staff, retained leaders in
planning and engineering, Mayan culture, veterinary medicine, and marketing,
supervised planning staff, wrote business plans and master plans, presented
plans to government agencies, etc. Managed budgets and P & L. 1987-93.
Publishing and
Production Company
In l994 I conceived, staffed, directed and promoted Sacred
Press and Sacred Productions,
which published several books and
produced several award-winning TV productions.
I authored two of the books and produced and directed five
TV documentary productions, one of which was aired on PBS, another on The
Nashville Network. “The Sacred Hunt:
Hunting as a Spiritual Path,” received 11 awards and
became the all-time, top-selling
production about hunting. Marty
Stouffer did the wildlife filming, Ted Nugent the
music. “Orca:The Sacred Whale”
won first place among natural history broadcasts
in 2000. I hired and supervised
office staff and field production crews, supervised
printing and post-production, successfully promoted books
and DVDs via press
releases, lectures and
media/press interviews. Wrote business plans and managed
P & L. 1994-2005.
Founder and
Director, Gold Coast College
In conjunction with field studies on orca whales in Costa Rica,
I founded
and directed Gold Coast College,
a proprietary school for adult education. I negotiated
a contract with an American private school for evening and
weekend classrooms,
attracted qualified instructors to teach a variety of
courses ranging from dressage
(off campus) to natural history of Guanacaste, English and
drawing on the left side of the
brain, organized class schedules, promoted and publicized
the program and managed
the budget. 2005-2007.
Professional
Speaking
After spending two years in Costa Rica studying a new culture
of orcas I
returned to Ohio
owing to my wife’s serious illness. I authored From
Boys
to Men of Heart,
about rites of passage, and lectured professionally, taught
workshops and presented numerous
keynote addresses in the U.S.
and Canada
,
including university campuses, conservation and outdoor press
organizations, nature centers and wilderness/tracking schools. I promoted
these programs via publicity on the web, and also am registered with the Gail
Davis speaker’s agency. 2007-present.
Founder and
Director, Dolphin and Whale Society
I continued the
Orca Project through the summer of 2010 and the same year launched the
Dolphin and Whale Society. I
assembled a distinguished advisory board of authors, scientists, writers and
photographers, promoted the Society via the web, solicited manuscripts and
interviews from luminaries including Four Arrows aka Don T. Jacobs, a a
leader in indigenous wisdom, and Rupert Sheldrake of Cambridge University,
described by Deepok Chopra as the Darwin-Einstein of our time, and supervised
staff. 2010-present. Visit:
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