UCF professor receives Benton H. Box Award

CLEMSON, S.C. — Reed Noss, provost’s Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Central Florida and president of the Florida Institute for Conservation Science, was among three individuals recognized at the annual George B. Hartzog Jr. luncheon held at Clemson University Oct. 30. 

The annual program recognizes exemplary leadership in addressing environmental issues and concerns in honor of the seventh director of the National Park Service.

Noss received the Benton H. Box Award for recognition as a teacher who by precept and example inspires in students the quest for knowledge and encourages curriculum innovation to inculcate an “environmental ethic” as the rule of conduct. The award is named for the former dean of Clemson’s College of Forest and Recreation Resources.

Noss has been a major contributor to his field, producing more than 300 publications on the application of science to species-level and ecosystem-level conservation planning, restoration and management.

Noss gave the annual George B. Hartzog Jr.  lecture at Clemson’s Strom Thurmond Institute. He spoke on “Trying to Think Big in Conservation.”

Reed Noss is Provost’s Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Central Florida and President of the Florida Institute for Conservation Science. He has a B.S. in Education from the University of Dayton, an M.S. in Ecology from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Florida. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of Conservation Biology (1993-1997), President of the Society for Conservation Biology (1999-2001), and President of the North American Section of the Society (2006-2008).