Edward Clark Jr.
For more than thirty years, Ed Clark has been a national leader in the
field of conservation. His involvement has ranged from wilderness
designation and public land management to pesticide regulation and
endangered species protection. Raised in Flint Hill, Virginia, Ed
received a BA in History and Political Science from Bridgewater
College. He did graduate work in education at James Madison University
and University of Virginia. His professional training includes
environmental mediation, organization management, and strategic
planning.
In 1978, while still a teacher at the VA School for the Deaf, he became president of the VA Wilderness Committee and led the grassroots effort lasting eight years to protect more than eighty thousand acres in Virginia's two national forests. In 1979, he became the first Executive Director of the Conservation Council of Virginia Foundation, the environmental advocacy and education network known today as the Virginia Conservation Network. In 1980, he co-founded and became Assistant Director of the Environmental Task Force in Washington, DC, a national grassroots support network. In 1982, he returned to the Shenandoah Valley, and began his work as a leadership trainer and political consultant for national conservation and non-profit groups, including Trout Unlimited, the Sierra Club, Habitat for Humanity, the Humane Society International, the Appalachian Trail Conference, the Appalachian Mountain Club and many others. Even as his own professional conservation endeavors increased, he continued his grassroots activism on issues related to public land management, wildlife and habitat conservation, and natural resource law. He is still in great demand around the world as a conference speaker, trainer, and consultant in the fields of organizational development, volunteer management, fund raising, strategic planning, and grassroots organizing.
In November of 1982, Ed co-founded The Wildlife Center of Virginia. Under his leadership, The Wildlife Center has become one of the world's leading veterinary teaching and research hospitals for wildlife and conservation medicine. The Wildlife Center's conservation medicine and environmental education programs have become prototypes for wildlife conservation organizations worldwide. At its Virginia facilities, the Center trains veterinary and wildlife conservation professionals from around the globe. The Center also has active field programs in Latin America and Africa, working with wildlife rescue organizations, universities and governments to combat the illegal trade in wildlife, and care for the wild victims of criminal trafficking.
In 2006 and 2007, the Center won contracts from the Institute for Defense and Homeland Security and the Department of Defense to create a working model of the North American Wildlife Disease Surveillance Network (Project Tripwire), a surveillance and early warning system for the detection of emerging wildlife disease and biosecurity/bioterrorism threats against the United States. Project Tripwire may become for wildlife medicine what the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is for human medicine. Discussions are underway other agencies to expand Project Tripwire to include surveillance for the spread of Avian Influenza in the Canada/USA/Mexico, and for use in a wide variety of other applications. Among the many honors the Wildlife Center has received under Ed's leadership are the 1993 National Environmental Achievement Award for Wildlife Conservation, and the 2004 - 21st Century Achievement Award from the Computerworld Honors Program, which judged the Center to be the "best information technology application in the world, in Environment, Energy, and Agriculture." In 2003, the American College of Zoological Medicine certified the Center's postdoctoral residency program in Wildlife and Conservation Medicine, making it one of only twelve such training programs in existence, and the only one outside a veterinary school or major zoo. In 2006, the American College of Preventive Veterinary Medicine accredited a three-year postdoctoral residency in Disease Surveillance and Applied Epidemiology at the Wildlife Center, the first accredited epidemiology residency in wildlife medicine in the world. In November of 2007, the Wildlife Center received the National Wildlife Federation's highly prestigious Conservation Achievement Award and was name the Wildlife Conservation Organization of the Year for the United States. The Center is a current nominee for the Shenandoah Valley Technology Council's Nation Defense and Homeland Security Award.
Ed has received many individual honors as well. In 1987, the Virginia Wildlife Federation named him Conservation Educator of the Year. In 1992 the U.S. Committee for the UN Environment Programme named him one of the "500 Environmental Achievers". He received the 1993 Conservation Medal from the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1997, he received the prestigious "Chuck Yeager Award" from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for his conservation work "on the ground". In 2000 he received commendation from the Venezuelan Ministry of Education for his work promoting environmental education in rural communities, and 2001, from the Venezuelan Guardia Nacional and the Ministry of Defense for his work combating the illegal trafficking of neotropical wildlife. In 2006 Bridgewater College, named Ed its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. Also in 2006, the Virginia Conservation Network presented Ed with the "Scarlet Award", for outstanding contributions to conservation and environmental protection.
Active in public service, Ed has been appointed by three Virginia Governors to various boards and commissions, including the Virginia Council on the Environment (the state environmental policy board), the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (one of the nation's largest government land trusts), the Virginia Environmental Education Commission, and the Governor's Commission on Natural Resource Funding. Ed has also served on boards and advisory councils of more than twenty regional, national, and international conservation organizations, including in recent years, the National Wildlife Federation (Eastern Vice Chair), International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (President), Philippe Cousteau Foundation (founding Secretary), and Southern Environmental Law Center (President's Council). He is currently a member of the Steering Committee of the National Endangered Species Coalition, based in Washington, DC and a member of the Board of Directors of the Conservation Trust in Dallas, Texas. In 2007 and 2008, he was a member of the US Delegation to the Tri-lateral Commission Committee on Wildlife and Habitat Conservation (a forum created by the North American Free Trade Agreement).
Ed is a well-known and widely recognized television personality. He hosted the weekly series "Virginia Out-doors" and "Wednesdays Untamed" on Virginia Public Television. More recently he was the host and narrator of "Wildlife Emergency", the award-winning series about The Wildlife Center of Virginia, which still airs worldwide on Animal Planet. Ed has also appeared in several films and documentaries, and is frequently seen on network television programs such as CNN's Larry King Live, NBC's TODAY, FOX News, CBS Saturday Morning, and C-SPAN's Washington Journal.
Ed is in great demand as a motivational speaker, organizational consultant, and trainer. His conservation work takes him across the United States, and to many foreign countries each year. When he is not on the road (and often when he is) Ed enjoys his passion for scuba diving, shooting and wildlife photography. Ed lives in the woods near Waynesboro, Virginia with his wife Kim, and their 4 dogs, 5 cats, and 13 birds (nearly all rescued or adopted).
In 1978, while still a teacher at the VA School for the Deaf, he became president of the VA Wilderness Committee and led the grassroots effort lasting eight years to protect more than eighty thousand acres in Virginia's two national forests. In 1979, he became the first Executive Director of the Conservation Council of Virginia Foundation, the environmental advocacy and education network known today as the Virginia Conservation Network. In 1980, he co-founded and became Assistant Director of the Environmental Task Force in Washington, DC, a national grassroots support network. In 1982, he returned to the Shenandoah Valley, and began his work as a leadership trainer and political consultant for national conservation and non-profit groups, including Trout Unlimited, the Sierra Club, Habitat for Humanity, the Humane Society International, the Appalachian Trail Conference, the Appalachian Mountain Club and many others. Even as his own professional conservation endeavors increased, he continued his grassroots activism on issues related to public land management, wildlife and habitat conservation, and natural resource law. He is still in great demand around the world as a conference speaker, trainer, and consultant in the fields of organizational development, volunteer management, fund raising, strategic planning, and grassroots organizing.
In November of 1982, Ed co-founded The Wildlife Center of Virginia. Under his leadership, The Wildlife Center has become one of the world's leading veterinary teaching and research hospitals for wildlife and conservation medicine. The Wildlife Center's conservation medicine and environmental education programs have become prototypes for wildlife conservation organizations worldwide. At its Virginia facilities, the Center trains veterinary and wildlife conservation professionals from around the globe. The Center also has active field programs in Latin America and Africa, working with wildlife rescue organizations, universities and governments to combat the illegal trade in wildlife, and care for the wild victims of criminal trafficking.
In 2006 and 2007, the Center won contracts from the Institute for Defense and Homeland Security and the Department of Defense to create a working model of the North American Wildlife Disease Surveillance Network (Project Tripwire), a surveillance and early warning system for the detection of emerging wildlife disease and biosecurity/bioterrorism threats against the United States. Project Tripwire may become for wildlife medicine what the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is for human medicine. Discussions are underway other agencies to expand Project Tripwire to include surveillance for the spread of Avian Influenza in the Canada/USA/Mexico, and for use in a wide variety of other applications. Among the many honors the Wildlife Center has received under Ed's leadership are the 1993 National Environmental Achievement Award for Wildlife Conservation, and the 2004 - 21st Century Achievement Award from the Computerworld Honors Program, which judged the Center to be the "best information technology application in the world, in Environment, Energy, and Agriculture." In 2003, the American College of Zoological Medicine certified the Center's postdoctoral residency program in Wildlife and Conservation Medicine, making it one of only twelve such training programs in existence, and the only one outside a veterinary school or major zoo. In 2006, the American College of Preventive Veterinary Medicine accredited a three-year postdoctoral residency in Disease Surveillance and Applied Epidemiology at the Wildlife Center, the first accredited epidemiology residency in wildlife medicine in the world. In November of 2007, the Wildlife Center received the National Wildlife Federation's highly prestigious Conservation Achievement Award and was name the Wildlife Conservation Organization of the Year for the United States. The Center is a current nominee for the Shenandoah Valley Technology Council's Nation Defense and Homeland Security Award.
Ed has received many individual honors as well. In 1987, the Virginia Wildlife Federation named him Conservation Educator of the Year. In 1992 the U.S. Committee for the UN Environment Programme named him one of the "500 Environmental Achievers". He received the 1993 Conservation Medal from the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1997, he received the prestigious "Chuck Yeager Award" from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for his conservation work "on the ground". In 2000 he received commendation from the Venezuelan Ministry of Education for his work promoting environmental education in rural communities, and 2001, from the Venezuelan Guardia Nacional and the Ministry of Defense for his work combating the illegal trafficking of neotropical wildlife. In 2006 Bridgewater College, named Ed its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. Also in 2006, the Virginia Conservation Network presented Ed with the "Scarlet Award", for outstanding contributions to conservation and environmental protection.
Active in public service, Ed has been appointed by three Virginia Governors to various boards and commissions, including the Virginia Council on the Environment (the state environmental policy board), the Virginia Outdoors Foundation (one of the nation's largest government land trusts), the Virginia Environmental Education Commission, and the Governor's Commission on Natural Resource Funding. Ed has also served on boards and advisory councils of more than twenty regional, national, and international conservation organizations, including in recent years, the National Wildlife Federation (Eastern Vice Chair), International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (President), Philippe Cousteau Foundation (founding Secretary), and Southern Environmental Law Center (President's Council). He is currently a member of the Steering Committee of the National Endangered Species Coalition, based in Washington, DC and a member of the Board of Directors of the Conservation Trust in Dallas, Texas. In 2007 and 2008, he was a member of the US Delegation to the Tri-lateral Commission Committee on Wildlife and Habitat Conservation (a forum created by the North American Free Trade Agreement).
Ed is a well-known and widely recognized television personality. He hosted the weekly series "Virginia Out-doors" and "Wednesdays Untamed" on Virginia Public Television. More recently he was the host and narrator of "Wildlife Emergency", the award-winning series about The Wildlife Center of Virginia, which still airs worldwide on Animal Planet. Ed has also appeared in several films and documentaries, and is frequently seen on network television programs such as CNN's Larry King Live, NBC's TODAY, FOX News, CBS Saturday Morning, and C-SPAN's Washington Journal.
Ed is in great demand as a motivational speaker, organizational consultant, and trainer. His conservation work takes him across the United States, and to many foreign countries each year. When he is not on the road (and often when he is) Ed enjoys his passion for scuba diving, shooting and wildlife photography. Ed lives in the woods near Waynesboro, Virginia with his wife Kim, and their 4 dogs, 5 cats, and 13 birds (nearly all rescued or adopted).