Professor Dan Williams Honored For Conservation Efforts

California State University, Stanislaus Zoology Professor Dan Williams, who has done extensive work with a number of rare and endangered animals and plants in the San Joaquin Valley, has been honored by the Western Section of the Wildlife Society.

Williams received the Section's Conservationist of the Year Award during its recent annual meeting. The award focuses on outstanding contributions to wildlife conservation.

A member of the CSU Stanislaus faculty since 1971, Williams has maintained an active research program on endangered species of the San Joaquin Valley.

His research projects have focused primarily on kangaroo rats, blunt-nosed leopard lizards, riparian brush rabbits, riparian woodrats, San Joaquin kit foxes, and a number of other species and plants.

Many of these species are on the road to recovery or have solid conservation strategies in action on their behalf as a result of Williams's commitment and determination.

Much of his work is done in remote areas far away from the classroom, where examples of his research are put to use by students.

Williams's extensive research for the California Department of Fish and Game, one of millions of dollars in grant programs that Williams oversees, has resulted in a number of rare species being listed as threatened or endangered. He launched a successful grant proposal to the state Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1992 to establish the San Joaquin Valley Endangered Species Recovery Program (ESRP) in Fresno and followed that up with the Recovery Plan for Upland Species of the San Joaquin Valley. He has also served as principal investigator on numerous ongoing conservation research projects in the region.

The program's mission is to facilitate endangered species recovery and resolve conservation conflicts through scientifically based recovery planning and implementation. It is the aim of the program to work in a public-private partnership to achieve an environmentally sound, economically feasible, and socially equitable recovery of endangered and threatened species.

Colleagues note that Williams has taught many conservation-oriented courses at CSU Stanislaus and instilled in his students an appreciation for nature, ecology and conservation.

The Wildlife Society is an international nonprofit scientific and educational organization of nearly 10,000 members, serving professionals in all areas of wildlife ecology, conservation, and management.