Dr. Carl N. Shuster Jr. a Green Eggs & Sand team tribute

Transcription

1 Dr. Carl N. Shuster Jr. a Green Eggs & Sand team tribute

2 Carl & GE&S From its inception through its rise to prominence as an award-winning, coast-wide environmental education initiative, Green Eggs & Sand has benefited immensely by Dr. Shuster s contributions to the project. His commitment, expertise & unequaled knowledge of HSCs greatly enriched the products and experience for all involved.

3 Carl the keystone A key ingredient to GE&S success has been the involvement of experts (over 100 at last count) from all aspects of the HSC story. Carl s participation from the get-go proved essential in attracting and adding credibility to expert buy-in wherever we went.

4 Carl as presenter At each & every GE&S workshop venue, Carl had some illuminating and relevant info & perspectives on the HSC situation to present.

5 Carl s talks were unique, well-articulated and always thoughtprovoking!

6 Carl in his element But it was on the beach with horseshoe crab in hand that Carl was especially adept at working his magic with Green Eggs & Sand educators.

7 Carl Shuster - Green Eggs & Sand Road Warrior Ocean Institute, Sandy Hook, NJ Delaware Bay Cornell Cooperative Extension, Long Island Chincoteaque National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia Over the seminal first 11 years of GE&S, Carl presented at 25 workshops in 6 states (missing only one workshop in Georgia due to illness). Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, Georgia Wellfleet Audubon Center, Cape Cod

8 Carl s impact on Educators went way beyond his scientific presentations and on-the-beach HSC interpretation. His approachability in sharing his passion and insights on all things HSC made these experiences all the more memorable and meaningful for all attending. One of numerous notes of gratitude from the GE&S team in acknowledging Carl s contributions to our workshops: Another successful Green Eggs & Sand workshop, and another one that has benefited greatly from Carl Shuster s willingness to share his knowledge, resources and insights on all things horseshoe-crab related! Once again on behalf of the Green Eggs & Sand team, I thank you again for your giving so freely of your time and knowledge, in terms of presenting your session, supplying the notebooks that were such a hit around the coffee table during breaks, and making yourself available during the field excursions and on breaks to answer people s questions and point out things they would otherwise never known about. I don t think I can possibly tell you how much your presence & participation in these workshops enriches the experience for all of us, but hope that the plaque we honored with you at the close of the workshop will serve as some small reminder of how much your contributions are valued.

9 Obviously a master of the crab! Fascinating man endless knowledge. A privilege to be in the presence of a living legend! What a trooper! And so wonderfully available & glad to share his vast knowledge. This man is a fount of knowledge! What an incredibly intelligent & nice man! Knowledge of the HSC is astounding! Dr. Shuster s passion is evident and contagious. Quotes from GE&S workshop participants (aka: Students in the School of Shuster ) Best part of the workshop! He s a treasure! In awe of the expert! How wonderful to learn from the master! A detailed fascinating discourse Dr. Shuster is an inspiration. Excellent hands-on presentation. He truly is a gem! Could listen to Carl for days! Fantastic! Admire his total dedication & intimate knowledge of this creature. Awesome opportunity to listen to the Master! A legend in his own time; it was a pleasure to meet and hear him! Like sitting at the feet of the Dali Lama!

10 Carl & the Curriculum In addition to pitching in full-tilt at all GE&S meetings and workshops, Carl was integrally involved in development of the GE&S curriculum at various levels. This included: supplying resources like his HSC model to the lessons, ground-truthing all materials for scientific accuracy, and contributing to several key video components of the curriculum. In recognition of the key role Carl played as scientific advisor to the Green Eggs & Sand project, and for his part in the various awards and honors GE&S has received over the years, the GE&S curriculum was specifically dedicated to Dr. Shuster in 2003.

11 Celebrating Carl At the workshop in Delaware in 2006, the Green Eggs & Sand team paid special tribute to Carl for his immeasurable impacts on the project. With Thumper leading on guitar, the celebration culminated with a rousing rendition of the Horseshoe Crab song, with 3 verses added in Carl s honor.

12 My string of Dr. Shuster memories runs deep and wide, spanning nearly two decades and thousands of miles of I-95 travels to GE&S workshop venues up and down the coast, with numerous memorable Carl stories entertaining me along the way. Like all great Teachers, Carl challenged me to be a better observer, look at things in new ways, ask good questions, and trust my brain, gut & common sense to seek the best answers. In these and other ways, he has made me a better HSC scientist & educator. These are two of many examples of HSC education products with my name on them that wouldn t have been possible without Carl s profound impacts on my work in this field. His influence is evident and his teaching carries on through every presentation I make, school group I take to see the spawning spectacle, and GE&S workshop we do. Gary Kreamer, HSC Educator

13 Dr. Dick Weber (HSC Eggs-pert ) Dr. Shuster has been a special resource for all of us who have investigated aspects of horseshoe crab biology. I have benefitted greatly from Carl s knowledge, enthusiasm, insights and friendly encouragement. Through Carl I have met other people with similar qualities, who share a common interest in horseshoe crabs. This has been stimulating, and has broadened my knowledge. Carl and Dr. Weber in conversation at Sambos, when the group from the first International horseshoe crab conference visited Delaware. Carl & The Carl N. Shuster Horseshoe Crab Reserve Certainly, Carl deserves great admiration and respect for all that he has contributed to our knowledge and understanding of horseshoe crab biology and conservation. However, Carl - like the great leaders - also inspires deep affection because he gives so freely and selflessly of himself as a colleague, a teacher, and a mentor. To appreciate Carl's gifts to us, imagine if he had pursued a different subject of study instead of Limulus. How much poorer would our understanding be? How many of us would have found their current path in his absence? Dave Smith, Shepherdstown, WV (5/31/16)

14 Dr. Ruth Carmichael, Marine Biologist My best personal memory of Carl is that he was always (and has always remained) inclusive about his research. He was so incredibly warm to me when I started studying horseshoe crabs as a graduate student with no knowledge whatsoever of these amazing beasts. Carl was completely open and accessible and willing to share everything he knew and to encourage new lines of study. His warm and welcoming approach to scientific inquiry is rare these days with so much competition for funding and recognition. I have always admired his utter lack of concern for those issues and focus on what is meaningful; what will move us ahead in our studies and understanding. Here is a gem I have in my Carl collection. According to my notes it is from GE&S 2006 DE; Carl imparting some knowledge to a young man who I believe is David Smith s son. I think this one is priceless and exemplifies my best personal memories of Carl. Through the years, Carl has sent me innumerable manuscripts, notes, pictures, and documents just because he thought I would be interested (as I bet he has done for many others in this audience). I have read everything he has ever sent to me because he is right; it has all been useful and interesting. I particularly enjoy the items he designed and penned himself. I use one of his bivalve dissection cutouts every year as part of the curriculum in my invertebrate zoology class. I copy the two-sided paper images and give them with instructions to the students. His hand drawn diagrams rival anything you can find today in a text book and the 20-something students still get a huge kick out of the craft of cutting it out and putting together the paper clam. Its too cool for words. Carl is a real treasure!

15 To CARL: I first met you in 2004 at a Green Eggs & Sand workshop at Mallard Lodge. I must admit at first I was in awe and slightly intimidated! Luckily, over the years that followed I have had the distinct honor to have had the opportunity to get to know you better. Your generosity in giving of yourself to my students and to me have not only inspired me professionally, but have profoundly impacted me personally in ways that are hard to put into words. Your open mindedness & curiosity for the natural world is infectious to all around you. I will always have a piece of you in me. To me you are the quintessential Teacher. The teacher I aspire to be. Garth Stubbolo A teacher from Delaware

16 Thank you Carl! From your HSC and Green Eggs & Sand Friends