Introduction:

Dr. Rodney Sayler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University, where he teaches and conducts research in conservation biology and wildlife ecology.

As a conservation biologist, Rod works on a variety of ecological and conservation topics, including behavioral ecology, endangered species conservation and management, avian ecology, and restoration ecology.

Current Projects:

• Restoration of endangered Pygmy rabbits in Idaho and Washington
• Sharp-tailed grouse ecology in Washington
• Landscape ecology of rodents in conservation farming systems
• Waterfalls & salamander ecology & conservation
• Restoration ecology of Palouse Prairie (one of North America's most endangered grasslands)
• Wetland restoration studies
• Avian population biology and behavioral ecology (waterfowl ecology; avian brood parasitism)
• WSU Campus & Community Ecology Project
• Teaching courses in Conservation Biology, Restoration Ecology, and occasional offerings in Environmental Ethics and Graduate Seminar.

Regarding Our Web Studies:

We live in a world where information is accumulating far faster than our ability to digest and understand it. Usually, on one day during the semester, I tell my students that I am going to give them a three-word lecture - and then I ask them to write down these three words in their notebooks:

Information

Knowledge

Wisdom

We have an abundance of information, much of it relatively useless, thrown at us each day through television and other media. Some fortunate few, like those of you attending colleges and universities, can study the accumulated knowledge of a discipline such as conservation biology. But even at universities, we seldom focus on wisdom.

Much as I would like, and will try, I can't really teach wisdom. Through this course, however, I can expose you to the information and knowledge assembled by some of the best educators and scientists in the field of conservation biology. And through our shared writings and conversations that discuss the implications of what we learn in this course, I can share my own thoughts, and hopefully, even a bit of wisdom from time to time.

I am absolutely delighted that in this course you will be able to hear and read the words of E.O. Wilson, one of the leading scientists of our time. Listen carefully to these words and those of others you encounter in this course. There is genuine wisdom there. You have only to open your minds and your hearts to hear it.