[Bristol-Birds] Work on 'The Birds of Tennessee' began Monday night in Johnson City
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 01:07:32 -0400
A group of birders and professional biologists met Monday night in Johnson City
to begin work on The Birds of Tennessee, which will eventually be the
culmination of a three-year project and is to be published by The University of
Tennessee Press.
Funding for the project comes from state sources, including East Tennessee
State University and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The author will be Dr. Fred Alsop, East Tennessee State University biology
professor who was the Bristol Bird Club's featured speaker for the recent Joint
TOS/VSO 2012 meeting held during May in Johnson City. From 1971 to 1981,
Alsop was the statewide editor of THE SEASON, which appears in The Migrant,
quarterly journal of the Tennessee Ornithological Society.
He earned his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Tennessee- Knoxville in
Dec. 1972. He also took his M.S. in zoology from UT in March 1968. His B.S.
was in June 1964 from Austin Peay State University with a double major in
biology and fine arts with certification in elementary and secondary education.
Alsop has been Director: Partners-in-Flight regional bird identification
workshops for state and federal
employees (TWRA, KDF&W, USDAFS, USFWS, DOD, ect); workshops conducted
in 8 southern states; 1991-present. He was Chairman, Department of Biological
Sciences, Aug. 1983 to Dec. 1991; Special assistant to Vice-President for
Academic Affairs (1 year internship), 1979-80;
Assistant to the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Jan-June, 1987 and
Professor of Biological Sciences, 1983-Present. He was the ETSU 2007-08
Faculty Senate president,
Rick Knight, a member of the Lee & Lois Herndon Chapter of TOS and the Bristol
Bird Club, will be responsible for much of the technical expertise on the
occurrence and distribution of birds of the state.
His name is also expected to be on the title.
Knight has been the statewide editor of THE SEASON and has held that position
since 1994. During the period 1982-1985, he was the statewide Christmas Count
compiler for the journal. He served the journal as Assistant Editor,
1992-1996. During the past 25 years (since 1987) Knight has been the regional
compiler of the Cumberland Plateau / Eastern Ridge & Valley region report for
THE SEASON. He has served on the Tennessee Bird Records Committee. Knight is
the author of The Birds of Northeast Tennessee, 2nd edition, published in 2008
by the Bristol Bird Club and also the 1994 first edition published by BBC.
Knight earned a B.S. in biology at ETSU. He searched for the Ivory-billed
Woodpecker in Louisiana as part of the famous Zeiss team.
Others who will be involved include Rick Phillips, biology lecturer at the ETSU
at Kingsport campus; Mark Dunaway, an assistant professor of biology at Walters
State Community College; his wife, Dr. Marci Horn Dunaway, who is from North
Tazewell, VA; Mike Poe, of Kingsport who is a member of BBC and who edited
photos and did the major layout for The Birds of Northeast Tennessee, 2nd
edition, and Jo Ann (Zahn) Alsop, the author's wife, who will assist with
administrative duties. The staff will be paid by stipend.
Scott Somershoe, the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency state ornithologist,
will be a consultant on behalf of the state agency and lend his expertise on
Tennessee bird records and distribution. He will have a prominent role in the
project.
Mark Dunaway is a bird biologist and a wilderness audio expert. He specializes
in recordings made inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In 2006, Alsop
signed a contract with the Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association to
produce a DVD of Bird Songs of the Great Smoky Mountains in association with
Dunaway who was one of his graduate students and his wife Dr. Marci Dunaway.
This unique set of two CDs features the songs of 67 of the Smokies' most common
birds. Each song is followed by narration about how to find the bird and
descriptions of some of its habits, scripted by Alsop.
Mark Dunaway earned his A.S. at Southwest Virginia Community College - Science;
B.S., East Tennessee State University - Biology and M.S. from East Tennessee
State University - Biology. His wife earned her Ph.D. from the University of
Mississippi, 2008, in psychology. She practices at Morristown, TN.
Alsop's book will be the definitive bird book for the state of Tennessee. It
will be far more than a coffee table book and will introduce several new and
advanced approaches to a state bird book. Alsop says, "The book will have two
formats. A hard copy text will have an interactive DVD with color illustrations
of all 400 species of birds in the state, along with vocalizations for most of
the species. Also, an electronic book version will be available online.
Completely interactive, the e-book will have all the features of the hard copy,
plus video clips of many species. The online form will incorporate teaching
modules, entitled 'Birds in the Classroom,' that can be used in grades K
through 12 and updated periodically. He adds, "No other state bird book
offers the features this one will."
Internationally acclaimed wildlife artist Ray Harm will contribute many of his
published bird paintings and create new works as illustrations. Harm was named
by Décor magazine as one of the 30 most influential artists of the past 100
years. The completed hardcover book will have the largest collection of his
color paintings found in any volume.
Tennessee is one of the last states to produce a state bird book. For more
than 50 years, leading birders of the state debated who, among the founders and
other prominent birders of the state, was qualified and willing to tackle the
project. No one emerged.
In January 1995, Alsop emerged as the obvious person to tackle such a project.
He confirmed he had made several preliminary inquiries to determine interest in
the project. At that early date he already had serious interest from the
famous American wildlife artist Ray Harm who lived in southern Arizona. The
University of Tennessee Press showed considerable interest and there was
anticipation that the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency would provide
funding. In 2005, Alsop signed a 5-year contract with the UT Press and had
planned to have TVA biologist Jason Mitchell as a co-author, but the project
did not then take flight.
The project hit full stride when ETSU past President Paul Stanton, who retired
Jan. 14, 2012, gave the project a tremendous lift with both strategy and
encouragement.
Last November, after an extensive nationwide search, the Tennessee Board of
Regents named Dr. Brian Noland as the board's selection as the new president of
ETSU. Dr. Noland, an energetic and youthful leader, hit the ground running and
stepped in with Alsop to travel to Nashville. There, working with state
leaders and legislators, the project became a reality and the funding secured.
Alsop was the winner of the 2011 Z. Cartter Patten Award, presented by the
Tennessee Wildlife Federation for "distinctive service to the cause of
conservation." He is an internationally recognized ornithologist and the author
of 18 books, including Birds of the Smokies, Birds of North America and Birds
of Canada, as well as major works published by the Smithsonian Institution in
conjunction with D.K. Press.
Alsop notes, "I want a single resource for Tennesseans that contains all the
information about the outstanding avian diversity to be found in this state and
the great abundance of habitats they call home. The Birds of Tennessee will be
that resource."
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