Dr. Stephen Spear to Give Keynote Address at 3rd Annual Meeting
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September 20, 2017Dr. Stephen Spear of The Wilds will be the keynote speaker at the 3rd Annual Meeting of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy Foundation on Friday, November 3, 2017. The event will be held at the Kent State University at Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center in New Philadelphia at 6:00 PM.
Dr. Stephen Spear is the Director of Wildlife Ecology at The Wilds. He earned his Ph.D. at Washington State University, where he studied the effect of forest disturbance on connectivity of stream amphibian populations. Prior to joining The Wilds in August 2017, Dr. Spear worked for the Orianne Society, a reptile and amphibian focused conservation group based in Georgia. At The Wilds, Dr. Spear is involved in a number of conservation projects with local wildlife, such as the Eastern Hellbender, American Burying Beetle, bats, bobcats, terrestrial salamanders, and raptors. He currently serves as secretary for the Ohio Fish and Wildlife Management Association (OFWMA) and as Deputy Chair for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Viper Specialist Group.
The Wilds is a private, non-profit conservation center located on nearly 10,000 acres of reclaimed mine land in southeastern Muskingum County. The Wilds was created as the conservation center of the future by a group of civic leaders, political leaders, and zoo professionals who believed that a serious scientific approach was required to find solutions to environmental concerns. From its inception, The Wilds has been envisioned as a facility that combines cutting-edge conservation science and education programs with unique visitor opportunities. (Source: https://thewilds.columbuszoo.org)
