Southeastern Bat Diversity Network

Other Awards

Susan Loeb - 2008 Wings Over The Americas Award
Dennis Krusac - 2008 Legends Award
Alison McCartney - 2006 Chester O. Martin Award
Darren Miller - 2006 Chester O. Martin Award
Timothy Carter - 2006 Community Partner Award
Darren Miller - 2006 Wildlife Stewardship Award

Dennis Krusac - 2008 Legends Award

Dennis Krusac receives 2008 Legends Award

Dennis Krusac, Endangered Species Specialist in the Southern Region, was honored as the U.S. Forest Service's 2008 recipient of the American Recreation Coalition's (ARC) Legends Award. The Legends Awards recognize outstanding federal employees for their efforts to enhance the nation's outdoor recreation opportunities and resources. Mr. Krusac's development of outreach programs for mentally and physically challenged children, as well as minority students, and widely emulated accessible fishing facilities for children, senior citizens and disabled anglers were highlighted during the ceremony. He was applauded for his significant contributions to the success of the 2007 Atlanta Recreation Forum, which provided a showcase of his efforts to reach minority youth in Atlanta ... Mr. Krusac's work with inner-city Atlanta minority youth culminated in a 2008 "More Kids in the Woods" $80,000 grant focused on minority teens in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation and several other non-traditional partners. Full text (pdf - 68 kb) Photo - left to right: ARC President Derrick Crandall, Dennis Krusac, Deputy Chief for the National Forest System Joel Holtrop.

Timothy Carter - 2006 Community Partner Award

Indiana Professor Timothy Carter Receives 2006 Community Partner Award From Wildlife Habitat Council. Timothy C. Carter, Ph.D. (right) received international recognition as the 2006 Community Partner of the Year from the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) for contributions to wildlife habitat conservation and environmental education at the Unimin Corporation's Tamms/Elco Plant in southern Illinois. The Community Partner of the Year award goes to one organization or individual for making a significant contribution to a corporate site's wildlife habitat enhancement programs.

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A mutual interest in bat conservation made it easy for Dr. Carter to strike up a relationship with the Tamms/Elco's wildlife restoration program in 1998 where the wildlife team had initiated a bat habitat restoration program. Dr. Carter has worked extensively on the federally endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) and helped to restore the abandoned mines at Tamms/Elco as habitats for the Indiana bat and other types of bats most notably at Unimin's abandoned Magazine Mine. The ongoing effort at that mine has gained Dr. Carter widespread recognition for helping to restore populations of the Indiana bat.

Speaking about Dr. Carter, Rick Fox, head of the wildlife team says, "You need to get out of his way!" As a dedicated community partner, Tim has taken visitors into the Tamms/Elco mines, developed educational activities for a great variety of visiting groups and media, including the Chicago Tribune and Smithsonian magazine. His dedication to and enthusiasm for the Tamms/Elco wildlife restoration efforts is also evident through his facilitation of academic research. He has advised two Southern Illinois University graduate thesis projects and worked with groups from the University of Illinois, Humboldt State University and Indiana Bat Recovery Team on utilizing the mines for research.

Dr. Carter, an Assistant Professor at Ball State University, is an expert in his academic field of zoology and has published widely on bat conservation.

Darren Miller - 2006 Wildlife Stewardship Award

Dr. Darren Miller received the American Forest & Paper Asociation's 2006 Wildlife Stewardship Award, at the 2006 SFI Program Annual Conference, on October 4^th, 2006. This award recognizes significant achievements in the science and practice of wildlife management, and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program's goal of continuous improvement in forest resource management. In the award announcement letter, Dr. Miller was particularly commended for his commitment to sound science and dedication to increasing the understanding of bats and their conservation on managed forests. About his award, Dr. Miller thanks the members of BCI, MSBWG and SBDN for their support that made the award possible and he says: "... I feel like I accepted this on behalf of many."

Susan Loeb - 2008 Wings Over The Americas

Suan Loeb and Dennis Krusac receive 2008 Wings Across the Americas Award

Forest Service (FS) scientist Susan Loeb received honors at the Wings Across the Americas Awards Ceremony (pdf - 800 Kb) held in Phoenix, AZ. Wings Across the Americas is a FS program that represents an integrated and collaborative approach to conservation across agency program areas. The annual awards ceremony celebrates exceptional work that conserves birds, bats, and butterflies and their habitats across the Americas, recognizing the important roles that these sometimes overlooked species play in the environment and in relation to human concerns. Several SBDN members were recognized as part of the award: Eric Britzke, Mary Bunch (SCDNR), Robert Currie (USFWS), and Dennis Krusac (USFS). Dr. Loeb leads a comprehensive research program on the ecology and conservation of southern forest bats which is part of the SRS Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management Research Unit, and serves the research needs of managers in a variety of ecosystems throughout the Southeast. Full text (pdf - 90 kb). Photo - left to right: Dennis Krusac, Joel Holtrop (Deputy Chief, National Forest Systems of the U.S. Forest Service) and Susan Loeb.

Alison McCartney and Darren Miller - 2006 Chester O. Martin Award

Alison McCartney (formerly Sherman) and Darren Miller jointly received the Chester O. Martin Award for outstanding service to the MS Bat Working Group. The awards were presented by the working group's founder, Chester Martin (right) on Jan. 18, 2007 at the MBWG annual meeting in Jackson, MS (MS Museum of Natural Science).