A. Starker Leopold Lecture
"In this era where we are forced to manage public lands for continuous change that we cannot fully understand, I’m going to draw on 47 years of experience and observations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to argue that park managers—and in fact, all public land managers—have always managed for continuous change that is not fully understood. This newly recognized reality sounds daunting. But public land managers have always done this. In fact, we are made for this moment. Everything we have done in our careers has given us the knowledge and tools to meet this challenge."
Tom Olliff
Tom Olliff has been selected as this year's A. Starker Leopold lecture presenter. A. Starker Leopold (1913–1983) was an ecologist, conservationist, and educator, as well as a primary force in the shaping of modern national park policy. As a scientist, he produced more than 100 papers and five books, including classic studies of the wildlife of Mexico and Alaska. As a teacher, he inspired generations of students in numerous ecological disciplines. As an advisor to several Secretaries of the Interior, Directors of the National Park Service, and as chairman of an Advisory Board on Wildlife Management in 1963, Starker led the parks into an era of greater concern for scientifically-based management decisions and a greater respect for the ecological processes that create and influence wildlands.
Tom Olliff is the National Park Service Intermountain Region Manager for Climate Change and Landscape Conservation; he helps 85 parks in eight states from Montana to Arizona understand climate science and manage climate impacts to park resources. He also works with parks, other federal agencies, states, and non-governmental organizations to conserve resources—such as wildlife migrations—across boundaries. Tom previously served as the Chief of Yellowstone Park’s Science and Resource Management Division, where he supervised Yellowstone’s bear, wolf, elk, bison, geology, archeology, and fish programs. Tom spent 32 years living and working in Yellowstone as a park ranger, biologist, wildland and structural firefighter, and on a backcountry trail crew. He has a B.S. in Forest Management from Auburn University and an M.S. in Resource Conservation from the University of Montana. He lives in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife Peggy.