| What do you do at the Museum?
As director of Environmental and Conservation Programs (ECP) my main role is to help find rapid, cost-effective ways to translate the wealth of biological information in our Museum – in the tremendous expertise of our scientists, in our huge collections – into effective conservation action on the ground. We work in the Chicago region and around the world.
How does conservation fit into your other roles?
A lot of the work of conservation biology, in my view, is problem solving: How do you get people to work together towards a solution? How do we apply what we already know to come up with our best-informed guesses about priorities and management?
In many ways, my job is about finding the best people in the field and then helping channel their creative and intellectual energies into concrete, immediate results. Partnerships are key: ECP partners with other research institutions, regional and international conservation organizations, local communities, and government agencies. Our work is very much driven by urgent needs, and the more we can find expert partners to fit the job, the better the result.
 How did you become interested in your field?
I’ve always been fascinated with the way animals interact with each other and with their environment. Ever since I can remember that was my passion. But I didn’t understand as a kid, that this could become a career. When I came to college in the States, I was thrilled to learn about bird watching and field studies. I got instantly hooked. Since then I’ve studied the behavior and ecology of woodpeckers in North America and of monkeys and tortoises in several rain forests in South America.
As much as I love being outdoors and learning about incredible creatures, my primary concern is to apply our growing body of knowledge to the long-term protection and conservation of wild animals and wild places.
What do you love about what you do?
I love nature and am happiest out in the field. I believe that we, humans, have an incredible opportunity to thrive side by side with unique biological treasures. Ultimately, when we figure out how to allow wilderness not only to survive, but also to flourish in our midst, human communities will benefit as much as our non-human neighbors.
Do you find that your career in conservation is a good fit for you?
Yes. I thoroughly admire gifted field biologists, and although I’d love to be one of them, my skills lie more in finding these incredibly talented people, and helping coordinate their efforts with urgent needs in conservation action.
Describe your database project?
In the Museum’s vast research collections – our 20 million specimens of plants, animals and fossils – we have much of the key information we need to set effective priorities for conservation action. What we don't have is time. And it takes much too long to sort out all specimens, read every tag, compile all the relevant information.
But now that these records have been entered into computer databases, we can ask key questions of urgent conservation relevance, and get the answers in a matter of minutes. For example, from analyzing a large computer database on the ecology and distribution of birds in the American tropics, we find that the region of immediate priority for conservation – the region where unique species will disappear unless we act now – is the savanna/dry forest region of central South America. That region is rapidly turning into gigantic soybean fields, following the path of prairies and oak savannas in most of Illinois.
Besides speed, the power of databases lies in the capacity of computers to consider whole communities at once, rather than treating species individually, one by one. Finally, computer analyses can indicate trends, and point you to the communities about to become endangered if current patterns continue. So you can take action before it’s way too expensive – or worse, too late – to make a significant difference.
How are the Museum’s conservation projects significant locally?
The Museum has always had a major commitment to Chicago-based programs. But Chicagoland residents are extremely lucky. Within our metropolitan region survive some of the world’s best remaining examples of eastern tallgrass prairies, oak savannas, open oak woodlands, and wooded and prairie wetlands. The Museum has played a leadership role in helping launch Chicago Wilderness, a groundbreaking partnership of over 70 diverse and determined organizations in the region, dedicated to the preservation of the globally endangered natural communities in our own backyards.
In the vision of Chicago Wilderness, Chicago will be known as a place whose people have a passion for wilderness, and the foresight and ingenuity to save their piece of it.
Do you ever find conservation work depressing?
Some people ask, "How do you keep yourself upbeat?" But there is much to feel upbeat about. People are changing. Governments are changing. Conservation is increasingly at the forefront of people’s minds. Collaborations work. It’s up to us to reverse the damaging trends.
Have gender issues affected your career in any way?
Certainly most of my science classes – both during undergraduate and graduate school – were dominated by male students and faculty. But I don’t think that affected me too much. In conservation biology I believe that the sex ratio is more even than in other sciences. Culturally and/or biologically, women seem to have a certain facility with problem solving, with focusing on how to get people to work together towards a solution. In conservation biology, that is a major plus.
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