PUXICO — Leigh Fredrickson is a name synonymous with wildlife management, and in particular, wetland management, across North America.
So important and respected was his decades of research that in 2018, he was recognized by The Wildlife Society, earning its annual Aldo Leupold Memorial Award.
According to the organization, the Leupold Award is its highest honor, reserved for those individuals with a “well-established and distinguished career that has been of undoubted significance to the cause of wildlife conservation.”
On Tuesday, Fredrickson will be the keynote speaker at The Wildlife Society’s presentation of the 2019 award in Reno, Nev.
“It’s definitely a unique opportunity,” he said of this year’s program.
A Puxico resident who earned his PhD at Iowa State University, Fredrickson became the director of the Gaylord Memorial Laboratory at the Duck Creek Conservation Area in 1967, and for 36 years, he completed detailed research on wetlands and waterfowl, while mentoring nearly 80 graduate students who, he said, went on to play “a wonderful role in conservation.”
During his time at the Gaylord Laboratory, Fredrickson developed new ideas and research about waterfowl, wetlands and the wildlife they support.
“Some of our research opened new ways of thinking,” Fredrickson said. “For instance, we were able to verify cross-seasonal effects on mallards.”
Fredrickson also was instrumental in the early development and expansion of wood duck and hooded merganser research at Duck Creek, a program which continues today.
Throughout his career, Fredrickson said, he always worked to help people make good decisions while teaching workshops across the country and into Mexico.
“I like to work from the bottom up,” he said. “I think it’s important to educate the people on the land who are doing the work. It’s rewarding.”
One of the biggest things Fredrickson has strived for, and what he called a life goal, was to “get people to manage systems, not just wildlife. Give animals what they need and you’ll be successful.”
Providing the proper habitat and food at the proper times of the year, he said, is the most beneficial thing managers can do for wildlife.
“My biggest reward is seeing that happen on the land in many places today,” he said.