Pioneers of Environmental Protection
Dr. Archie Carr
Born: June
16, 1909 in Mobile, Alabama
Died:
May
21, 1987 at his home on Wewa Pond near Micanopy, Florida
Accomplishments
 First to earn doctorate in zoology
from the University of Florida, 1937
Known as the "father of sea
turtle research"
Founding scientific director of
Caribbean Conservation Corporation
Started and directed the U.S. Navy’s
"Operation Green Turtle," 1960’s
Wrote 10 books and over 120 papers
and articles
Father to five children
Environmental Legacy
Archie Carr was the first to bring
international attention to the plight of the sea turtle, and he
pioneered the study of Florida’s less appreciated residents, from
tree frogs to snakes.
An internationally renowned
zoologist, Carr roamed Florida’s semi-tropical expanses and
researched its vast wildlife for more than 50 years. He is
responsible for accumulating and distributing much of what is known
about the biology and life cycle of sea turtles.
Fluent in many languages, Carr
traveled the world as a research and consulting biologist. As a
result, his knowledge of world ecosystems was legendary. But his
focus was almost entirely on turtles. Carr’s work taught him to
see the world, as few people have, through the eyes of other
species. He was acutely aware of destructive change.
In the 1960s, Carr started and
directed the U. S. Navy’s "Operation Green Turtle," a
project to distribute green turtle eggs and hatchlings from
Tortuguero, in Costa Rica, to remote nesting beaches around the
Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. This effort resulted a dramatic
recovery in the nesting green turtle population.
For 20 years, he was the chairman of
the Marine Turtle Specialist Group, forging and directing the
international movement for the conservation of sea turtles. He
fought against the commercial "ranching" of sea turtles
and the sale of their products. Carr was a professor in the
University of Florida zoology department for more than 30 years,
reaching its most distinguished academic position, Graduate Research
Professor.
Carr dedicated his life to preserving
wild Florida and its native creatures. He said of preservation,
"If this difficult saving is done, it will (be done) because
man is a creature who preserves things that stir him."
The Florida Department of
Environmental Protection honored the memory of the Carrs with the
dedication of the Archie and Marjorie Harris Carr Building in
Tallahassee, which houses the Department’s Division of State
Lands, among other divisions. < Return to Pioneers |
