I once had the privilege of spending days in the field several extraordinary biologists

I met Henry Fitch (photo to the right) at a Kansas Herpetological Society meeting in the early 1990s. Biography at Wikipedia He must have been in his late seventies at I took this picture, yet I remember him having more energy than many of us youngsters.  We spent all day in the field catching snakes, lizards, frogs, and turtles.  I was so impressed how how young at heart the man was.  Dr. Fitch is not the only role model I have had the privilege of spending time with.  I was also a student at Northwestern Oklahoma State University with Professor Nighswonger; one of George M. Sutton's original students.


Dr. Nighswonger and I went birding at Great Salt Plains National Refuge every Sunday afternoon.  Dr. Nighswonger still lives with family in Woods County, although I have not seen him in a while.  Nighswonger is an excellent botanist and taught me most of what I know about ducks.  What a pleasure to soak up the knowledge these men had stored away for decades.  I could go on...Jimmy Pigg spent enormous amounts of energy teaching young people and conducting valuable research on fish in Oklahoma.  He contributed a number of specimens and library materials to St. Gregory's University just before I left there.

Dr. Paul Nighswonger in the field, 1991

(right photo- Dr. Vernon Powders, left and Jimmy Pigg, right)

I can't forget to mention Richard Lardie (herpetologist) and scoutmaster from my hometown of Enid.  We drove many a back road together catching frogs on rainy nights.

Richard Lardie (2002)


Oh, we can't forget Dr. Vernon Powders of NWOSU (Pictured below aboard the FSU Seminole) who turned us on to Gulf Coastal Ecology on the wilderness coast of Florida.  He will kill me if he sees this photo, but I have some even better ones.