Proposed by: Garden Club of Orange and Dutchess Counties, Zone III

Bill Schuster has devoted his life to advancing scientific understanding of the natural world. He has served as Executive Director of Black Rock Forest Consortium for 22 years, transforming a famous but little used 4000-acre forest into a vibrant living laboratory, integrating research and education at all levels. The Consortium he leads is considered a model of institutional collaboration, studied and emulated by many, where Columbia University, American Museum of Natural History and twenty other institutions benefit from the resources of a science field station within an hour of NYC. During his tenure at Black Rock Forest the publication rate has increased tenfold, use for education and research has exceeded 13,000 visitor days per year, 35 master’s and doctoral dissertations have been completed and many millions of dollars of grant funds have been secured. Beginning in the 1990s he pioneered the construction of 18,000 square feet of award-winning “green” science and education facilities.Since 1992 ten additional properties have been added to the Forest and a recent agreement secured by Schuster placed the entire Black Rock Forest under conservation easement, permanently guaranteeing public access and creating a $1.5 million fund for land conservation. For a decade he has led an effort to create an ecological connectivity corridor in the Hudson Valley to ensure the ability of wildlife to survive future climate change. He has championed the use of science to guide conservation decisions, control deer populations, respond to eastern hemlock decline, and restore native trout populations. He has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and has taught forest ecology, genetics, biological statistics and plant systematics at Penn State, University of Colorado, Barnard College, New York University and Columbia University in addition to hundreds of classes for K-12 students. He has mentored many students who have gone on to careers in public service and academia. In 2012 he was elected President of the Organization of Biological Field Stations and helped produce a report by the National Academy of Sciences on the importance and future of biological field stations.