George Archibald: Academy Evenings

April 13, 2010

As part of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters' Academy Evenings series of public discussions on issues that impact our state, distinguished crane conservationist George Archibald will speak on The Once and Future Life of Whooping Cranes: The Challenges of Reintroducing a Species on Tuesday, April 20, from 6 - 7:30 p.m. at Northland College's Alvord Theatre, 1411 Ellis Avenue, Ashland, Wisconsin. This Academy Evenings event, co-hosted with Northland College and sponsored by the Windway Foundation, is free and open to the public. Seating is first come, first served. Doors open at 5:15 p.m.

Award-winning pioneer, conservation icon and co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, George Archibald has cultivated and revolutionized the preservation of rare crane species and their wetland habitats. In 1973 along with Ron Sauey, he co-founded the International Crane Foundation, currently located in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The foundation emerged at a perilous time for cranes, when many of the 15 remaining species were on the brink of extinction. Archibald and Sauey, a colleague from Cornell University, where Archibald earned his PhD, started the foundation in a horse barn owned by Sauey's parents. When they began, little was known about the breeding biology of cranes, with some species never having been hatched in captivity. Sauey and Archibald worked to create a "species bank" for captive cranes, reasoning that breeding cranes in captivity was one important step toward safeguarding them in the wild. Through the International Crane Foundation, Archibald continues to research and collaborate with colleagues around the world. Archibald has pioneered several techniques to rear cranes in human care, such as having human handlers wear crane costumes to avoid human imprinting and using ultra-light aircraft to lead cranes on migration. An ardent conservationist, Archibald has also led the effort to protect more than 5 million hectares of wetlands in Asia, mostly in China and Russia, and he has implemented conservation-education programs among local people in remote regions of Africa, Australia, and Eurasia. During his career, Archibald has studied the ecology of eight species of cranes in Australia, Bhutan, China, Iran, India, Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States, and has organized more than 900 researchers working with cranes in more than 60 nations Indeed, Archibald is known globally as the world's leading scientific authority on cranes, and he has received numerous awards and honors worldwide. The United Nations placed him on the Global 500 Roll of Honor for Environmental Achievement, and he was inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame for 2006.

Suggested Reading:

"Conservationist works to protect cranes in North and South Korea," by Ron Seeley. Wisconsin State Journal, October 12, 2009.

"The International Crane Foundation: A Story of Preservation and Restoration," by George Archibald. Wisconsin Academy Review, Fall 1994

For Further Inquiry:

International Crane Foundation

Information above taken from http://www.wisconsinacademy.org/evenings/index.php?category_id=4455&subcategory_id=6599