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 Joe
Kuhn began his life as a naturalist/ecologist in childhood with Boy
Scout outings in Indiana. On the path to becoming an Eagle Scout he was
favored by the Creator with an outstanding scoutmaster who not only
loved Nature and his Scouts, but had an unusually profound respect for
the local American Indian history and pre-history.
At Scout camp he
learned about the wonder of forests and wild foods like pawpaws, wild
berries and wild green vegetables. His father introduced him to wild
mushrooms, fishing, and travel which further increased his awe of the
great diversity and beauty of Mother Earth and her peoples.
He went on to
attend Indiana and Oregon State universities and try his hand at
technician jobs in the environmental protection and natural resource
management fields. He studied geology, forestry and geography before
finding his true niche as an ecologist, obtaining an MSc in ecology at
the University of California. His first professional work was in
California in the natural resource and land use planning field.
From there he
worked his way north to the Yukon, becoming a Canadian and a specialist
in ecological land classification and assessment of ‘development’
impacts on riparian, wetland and other key wildlife habitats in mountain
ecosystems.
After fifteen often
frustrating years of environmental impact assessment work, he packed
himself off to Kenya for what was intended to be a year’s sabbatical to
pursue his love of photography and the beauty and wonder of wildlife and
natural landscapes. His growing concern about starving people in Africa
and his interest in wild food plants, which began back at Scout camp,
led him to the Kenya Freedom from Hunger Council and two more years in
that beautiful country. Working with the National Museums of Kenya and
supporting NGOs, he developed an Indigenous Food Plants Program for
Kenya. This work involved some very interesting anthropology as well as
biology and led to meeting his wife Pauline who, as a tribal person,
shares his love of Nature from a very different cultural perspective.
Returning to Canada
Mr. Kuhn worked for another fifteen years with that Country’s First
Nations peoples. A very satisfying accomplishment during this period was
being able to contribute to the development of the Boreal Forest
Standards for certification of forest products by the international
Forest Stewardship Council. Currently he is working with his wife on a
novel and other projects which will enable them to share and build on
some of their experiences with indigenous peoples. They are deeply
concerned about the health and survival of the natural-human ecosystems
that have sustained tribal peoples for many centuries with minimal
adverse impact.
In the field of
conservation science Mr. Kuhn’s primary interest is in involving
indigenous peoples, especially the youth, in developing and managing the
geographic information systems needed for better ecosystem stewardship.
Beginning in 2007 he will be coordinating the Ethics Initiative of the
Conservation Science Institute.
Email:
j.kuhn@conservationinstitute.org
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