Illinois Natural History Survey Reports

              1
R e p o r t s
Spring 2008
No. 395
150 Years of Service
to the State
2
INHS to Be Incorporated
in the University of
Illinois
3
What Lies Ahead for
INHS
4
We Have a New Chief!
5
Division of Ecology and
Conservation Sciences
6
Division of Biodiversity
and Ecological
Entomology
7
In Memoriam: Glen C.
Sanderson
8
David L. Thomas Ends
Long Career in
Conservation
9
Species Spotlight:
What or Who Is a Survey
Scientist
10
The Naturalist's
Apprentice: Natural
History Survey Scientist
Word Search
11
INSIDE
Continued on back page
150 years 1858 to 2008
In the Far East, each and every
year has a designation—the
Year of the Dragon, the Year of
the Tiger . . . they conjure up
vivid images of dancing dragons,
cavorting tigers, and more. Well,
hold on to your hats, because
2008 is the Year of the Survey!
The Illinois Natural
History Survey is of-ficially
150 years old
and we are celebrat-ing
this milestone.
Everyone is invited
and we’ve planned
a series of special
events to commemo-rate
natural history,
natural resources,
and the underlying
science for which
the survey is noted.
Our official cel-ebration
will be on
Friday and Saturday,
September 26–27 at
the survey’s South
Research Park loca-tion
in Champaign.
We’ve planned our
events to reach the
entire range of our
clientele—natural
resource managers,
politicians and govern-ment
officials, fellow scientists,
and, especially, that most valued
of Illinois resources, it’s citizens.
All are invited to attend each and
every event or pick and choose
those that have individual appeal.
We begin with an event suit-able
for those who would like
to know the status of Illinois’
natural resources—a scientific
The Year of the Survey
symposium entitled Conservation
of Natural Resources in the 21st
Century: The View From Illinois
that will run all day Friday Sep-tember
26 at the new I-Hotel and
Conference Center, 1800 South
First Street, Champaign. We will
feature a variety of speakers from
Illinois and beyond, and conclude
with our distinguished guest, Dr.
Peter Raven, Director of the Mis-souri
Botanical Garden and world
authority on biodiversity issues.
The event is free, but on-line
registration is requested.
Two events designed for
families and a more general audi-ence
are scheduled for Saturday
September 27. We have invited
British author, TV personality,
and renowned herpetologist Mark
O’Shea to present “Serpents,
Sorcery and Snakebite in Papua
New Guinea, the Land of the
Unexpected” at the I-Hotel in the
morning. This should be a great
event for all ages. Following
the O’Shea presenta-tion,
INHS will have a
Natural History Expo
for families at its new
headquarters (1816 South
Oak St., Champaign) that
will feature numerous
interactive exhibits and
displays that showcase
the science of the survey.
Our centerpiece will
be the world-renowned
insect collection of Dan
Capps, an insect collec-tor
extraordinaire, fresh
from his most recent visit
where he was featured at
Walt Disney World/Ep-cot
Center, Florida. The
event will run from noon
until 6 p.m. and is free.
Biologists have been
traversing Illinois from
north to south and east
to west for only 40 years
less than it has been a
state—since 1858! As permanent
momentos of our 150th Celebra-tion,
we are producing two new
books that will be for sale during
the celebration.
Biologists in the Field is a
collection of anecdotes, essays,
short stories, and perceptions
from 150 years of field biology
Logo courtesy of Carolyn Nixon, INHS Office of the Chief