David E. Maehr, 18^th September 1955 - 20^th June 2008

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Interview with WGCU public radio, broadcast June 27th, 2008

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Dave Maehr's obituary by Hilary M. Swain and James N. Layne, Archbold Biological Station, 6/24/2008

David Steffen Maehr, renowned wildlife ecologist and conservation biologist, died on Friday June 20th, 2008, in a tragic single-engine plane accident southwest of Lake Placid, Florida. Maehr, 52, was known internationally as a world expert on large carnivores, most notably black bear and Florida panther, and for the reintroduction of the elk population in eastern Kentucky. Dave was Professor of Conservation Biology in the Department of Forestry at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, and was a visiting scientist at Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida. read more....

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Archbold's Statement

It is with the greatest sadness that Archbold Biological Station learned of the tragic death on Friday June 20th, 2008 of David S. Maehr, a visiting scientist at Archbold Biological Station. Dave conducted research at Archbold Biological Station for 25 years, and had been based at the Station over the last few months on sabbatical from the University of Kentucky. He was conducting an aerial survey of Highlands County black bears with friend and colleague Mason Smoak, when their plane went down southwest of Lake Placid, Florida. Mason Smoak, the pilot, local citrus grower, community leader, and strong supporter of conservation also died. Dave Maehr was Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of Kentucky, Department of Forestry, where he taught and had a wide variety of research projects on elk populations, black bear ecology in Kentucky and Florida, and imperiled neotropical migrant warblers. He published over 100 technical papers and book chapters, created artwork for a variety of wildlife-related books and publications, and was the author of three books, Florida’s Birds (1990), The Florida Panther: Life and Death of a Vanishing Carnivore (1997), and Large Mammal Restoration: Ecological and Sociological Challenges in the 21st Century (editor, 2001). Dave received his B.S. in wildlife management from Ohio State University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in wildlife ecology from the University of Florida. His death is an immense loss to Archbold Biological Station, the University of Kentucky, the study of wildlife ecology, and the conservation of large carnivores in North America. Our thoughts go out to his wife, Diane, his son, Clifton, his daughter, Erin, and to the entire Smoak family.
Hilary Swain, Archbold Biological Station, 6/21/2008

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Dave Maehr doing field work in Highlands County, 10-11-2006.
Photo by Carlton Ward

 

Dave Maehr with a tranquillized bear, 10-12-2006
Photo by: Carlton Ward

 

Dave Maehr (foreground), Mason Smoak (background)
and Marta Gandolfi processing a recent black bear capture
on 6-15-2008, Highlands County, Fl

 

Black bear, subject of Dave Maehr's research in Highlands County, 7-21-2007
Photo by: Carlton Ward