Guy Andrew Baldassarre - 1952-2012

[Fern Davies]

Guy Andrew Baldassarre, a Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union and recent recipient of the Wetlands Conservation Achievement Award in Research/Technology from Ducks Unlimited died peacefully on 20 August 2012.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association posted this remembrance:

All of us at Hawk Mountain were deeply saddened to learn the passing of our friend and former board member, Dr. Guy Baldassarre, “The Waterfowl Ambassador.” His is a great loss both for conservation and for Hawk Mountain. Guy served on our board from 2006 to 2010, and although he intended to return, he instead spent the last two years battling the illness that ultimately took his life.

Guy was a distinguished teaching professor in the wildlife science program at the State University of New York (SUNY), where he taught ornithology, waterfowl ecology, and wildlife ecology and management. He is past Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Wildlife Management, author of Waterfowl Ecology and Management, and editor Conservation Biology of Flamingos, a special publication of the Waterbirds Society. He received his Ph.D. from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, a master’s from University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and a bachelor’s from the University of Maine.

Guy was a natural teacher who loved to share his own excitement about birds and nature with others. An article about his ornithology courses at SUNY said his teaching and research was ‘a calling.’

“This isn’t a job. If I was independently wealthy I would work here for nothing,” he was quoted as saying.

Another article reported that he enabled 34 students to complete graduate degrees, directed research that resulted in 77 refereed publications, and mentored more than 30 graduate students and hundreds of undergrads.

“His commitment to the students was reflected in his insistence that they publish results of their collaborative research in peer-reviewed, scientific publications and popular outlets,” the article read, mentioning also that, “he was dedicated to developing tomorrow’s leaders.”

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