RE: NANFA-- Bluenose shiner news

Denkhaus, Robert (Robert.Denkhaus_at_fortworthgov.org)
Wed, 17 Sep 2003 16:11:23 -0500

Whoa BG!! I've stayed out of this discussion not because I am not interested
or because I don't have opinions but simply because I've got too much going on
right now. BUT, I have to toss in my two cents over one part of your reply.
Specifically,: "Most biologists are reading back into past history as far as
population studies are concerned. They don't have the field time and knowledge
that amateurs like me have done....."

I in no way doubt that you have spent tremendous amounts of time in the field
and that you are dedicated to species conservation, ecosystem protection, AND
your hobby, i.e. keeping native fish. However, give the biologists a break.
Being a professional biologist, whether working for the private sector, state,
federal or other government entity, or even freelance, is a job. Everyone
wants to improve their particular lot in life and in the biology field, that
usually means moving about job to job until you either get to the position
that you want or you just get tired of moving home and family from place to
place. Few biologists have the luxury of spending decades or even a half
dozen years learning the ins and outs of a specific area. In my own case, I
have spent the past 6 years in Fort Worth and I am just now getting to the
point where I feel comfortable with the local ecosystems. Prior to coming to
Fort Worth, I changed jobs, and therefore states and ecosystems, every 3-4
years in order to get to where I am at now. Since my career started 20 years
ago, I have lived and worked in 5 states. How was I to supposed to do all of
the footwork? So I, and every other biologist out there, am forced to fall
back on past experience and education to come up with an educated guess, i.e.
a hypothesis, to answer questions and come up with solutions to problems.

I learned long ago to pay attention to knowledgeable amateurs like yourself
because the time and energy that you have invested in learning about the area
is highly valuable. Many other biologists may not have learned this valuable
lesson. I understand and sympathize with your (and other's) feelings about
professional biologists but please don't accuse them (us) of being unwilling
to learn.

Lastly BG, please do not take this to be an inflammatory message because it is
not meant to be. I simply wanted to point out one of the many challenges that
biologists must face.

Rob Denkhaus
Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge

> -----Original Message-----
> From: B.G. Granier
> Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 3:11 PM
> To: nanfa_at_aquaria.net
> Subject: Re: NANFA-- Bluenose shiner news
>
>
> Bruce,
>
> You've hit the nail on the head. Most biologists are reading
> back into past
> history as far as population studies are concerned. They
> don't have the
> field time and knowledge that amateurs like me have done.....
>
> They don't know the habitat and haven't done the foot-work at
> all. So I base
> my theory that all is not based on scientific research,
> better to do the
> grunt work before assuming that a species is in jeopardy.
>
> Maybe, someone interested in doing the "real science" should
> contact me and
> we could form a comprehensive field-work study.
>
> And, yes, you're correct Bruce, I don't go overboard in
> collecting this
> species...
>
> Best Regards,
>
> BG
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