OLLI course targets ecology

Special to the Green Valley News

Mankind can live off the land, use its natural resources and still protect the environment ... even in the Amazon rain forest.

To successfully balance human needs with those of nature one must first understand ecology.

Frank McCormick, who grew up as the science of ecology came of age, can readily explain this fragile relationship. A university professor, author and governmental adviser, McCromick will lead a study group on “Ecological Adventures” for the Green Valley affiliate of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Arizona beginning March 4 and continuing through March 25. The class will meet on Wednesdays from 9-10:30 a.m. at the Beth Shalom Temple Center, 1751 N. Rio Mayo, Green Valley.

“Ecology is the complex science that studies environmental relationships of plants, animals and man,” McCormick said.

He’ll lead his class through the development and application of this “green” technology while telling about his experiences researching and teaching environmental science in 22 countries, from China to Rwanda.

Perhaps it was outdoor exploration as a young Boy Scout in Indianapolis that ignited the environmental spark that burst into flame while McCormick was studying biology as a pre-med student at Butler University in his hometown.

“In my junior year, I took an ecology course that opened my eyes to so many questions about the environment and ecological relationships,” he recalled. “Ecology is a detective job to ferret out what these interactions are.”

At that time, ecology was a component in the biology curriculum.

“When I took my first course in ecology in 1957, it was the first time an ecology textbook had ever been on the market,” he said.

While at Butler he took an achievement exam, aced it and was flooded with offers of graduate fellowships. He chose Emory University in Atlanta.

“I was really excited when I got to Georgia. I saw mountains and the ocean. And there were girls who said, ‘Would y’all carry me home?’ So I really enjoyed the time I spent at Emory,” he said. “There also were some outstanding professors.”

McCormick earned his master’s and doctorate degrees in biological sciences, focusing on ecology, at Emory. He began his teaching career at Vanderbilt University in Nashville in 1961, the same year Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” was published, launching public awareness of the relationship between the environment and human health.

“Vanderbilt was a great school, but the focus of the biology department was to send students onto med school,” he said. “With ecology coming gradually into prominence, it didn’t look like the best opportunity.

“So I went to the University of North Carolina, which I think is a super school. Right now it’s ranked No. 1 in the nation among public universities.”

While there he and a colleague received the first grant from the National Institutes of Health to set up an ecology program, signifying early recognition of the link between human health and environmental health.

By 1974, McCormick’s interest was moving toward using ecological science to find solutions to environmental problems created by economic development. His next academic destination was the University of Tennessee, where collaboration with a variety of governmental agencies provided exciting opportunities for ecological research. Tennessee established the first graduate degree program in ecology in the nation, and McCormick became the initial director.

The university received sizable grants and contracts when McCormick was tapped by the U.S. government to be senior ecologist of the Department of the Interior and chairman of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources of the Council of Environmental Quality.

“I served as an environmental advisor to President Carter, and he changed my life,” he said. “He introduced me to fly fishing in Alaska, and I’ve gone back to Alaska every year since.

“So why am I living in the desert? Well, I also love tennis, and tennis won out.”

While working in Washington, D.C., McCormick met his wife, Deanna; they were married on their third date.

While teaching at Tennessee, McCormick began worldwide travel to teach indigenous peoples how to use good ecological science and technology to improve economic opportunity and sustainable development.

He first visited China in 1981, when the country was emerging from its devastating Cultural Revolution, and the remaining scientists were eager for recognition from the world’s scientific community. McCormick investigated forests in eastern China similar to those in eastern North America as he and a Chinese scientist led the first Sino-American Ecological Expedition. As a World Bank consultant, he returned to China to identify universities deserving financial support.

The government of Brazil invited McCormick to train its people to protect the Amazon rain forest. He contributed to the establishment of a master’s degree program at the University of Amazonas, where representatives from the power industry, mining, oil development and agriculture quickly enrolled.

“They sent me all over the Amazon by plane and boat, so I got a wonderful introduction,” he recalled. “I love the Amazon. It has become my second home.”

While forests have been decimated in four of the five Brazilian Amazon states, most of the rain forest in the state of Amazonas has been saved due to the efforts of wise environmental lawyers and government officials.

McCormick worked with a Dutch company that developed a unique method of harvesting timber without jeopardizing sustained productivity of the natural forest.

“When harvested carefully, you could go back a year and a half later and hardly tell where they had pulled the logs out,” he said.

McCormick’s ecological contributions continued in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Far East. Using slides, he’ll take his study group on a visual journey to many of his destinations. He has led groups to the Amazon and has offered Green Valley residents the opportunity to explore the rain forest.

More OLLI courses

Environment and History of the Santa Rita Experimental Range

Women Writers of the Southwest

The Roswell Incident

Demystifying the Wine Mystique

Transformation of Religious Images and Spiritual Visions in the 20th Century

British Poetry

All About Personality Types

Introduction to the Night Sky

Native American Cultures

Things to See and Do In Green Valley

Pedro Almodovar Film Festival

Non-Fiction Addiction

In Defense of Food

To enroll in any OLLI/GV study group, pick up a membership/registration packet at the Joyner-Green Valley Library, or contact Penny Schmitt at the OLLI/UA office (520) 626-9039 or ollimail@u.arizona.edu.

For more information, visit www.olli.arizona.edu