Dedication

Dedicated to the Memory of Stephen Robert Keller (1943-2016)

Dr. Steve Kellert was a distinguished Yale professor and one of the world’s leading scholars on the relationships humans hold to wildlife, nature, outdoors, and places. He was also a committed member of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Sustaining America’s Diverse Fish and Wildlife Resources, a lead editor of the Panel’s final report and co-chair of its working group on relevancy and agency transformation. Steve convincingly and persistently argued that relevancy and agency transformation were as important to fish and wildlife conservation as the need for increased funding. The Panel’s second recommendation addressed the issue of relevancy due to Steve’s influence. This Relevancy Roadmap responds to that recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Panel.

In addition to his recent participation on the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Blue Ribbon Panel, Dr. Kellert was a long-time advocate of the need for increased funding for conservation, especially in his home state of Connecticut. His seminal research in the 1970s advanced our understanding of the human side of wildlife management and the challenges that diverse attitudes toward wildlife bring. Along with Harvard professor E.O. Wilson, he helped coin the concept and term “biophilia” describing humans’ dependence on nature. His study with DJ Case and Associates of nearly 12,000 American adults, children, and parents illuminated the growing disconnection between people and nature and the course of action needed to reverse this trend.

In 2018, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies honored Steve by creating an annual award in his name that recognizes a distinguished individual or group effort for outstanding service in advancing connections between humans and the natural world to all people in a diverse and inclusive manner. Through the many students he taught and advised as a professor at Yale University and the innumerable professionals he reached through the 180 publications he authored or co-authored, Dr. Kellert left an indelible mark on the field of conservation. And despite the many awards and distinctions he earned during his career, he remained humble, approachable, intensely curious and 100% committed to the cause of conservation. His generosity of spirit and intellect will long be felt by those who had the privilege of his counsel and his collaboration.