John Wise

My passion for science and wildlife began when I was a young child fascinated by the world around us. I have studied and trained and shaped my career around that passion, focusing it on understanding the impact of the environment on the health of people, animals and the ecosystem. For me, whether it is our work in the tiny, microscopic world of a cell or our work out in the wild with some of the most amazing creatures on earth, being a scientist is always a thrill and a privilege. To be a scientist is one part explorer. You venture into unknown aspects of the world and discover things no one has realized or seen before. It is one part detective. You don your Sherlock Holmes hat, open your mind, and gather evidence to solve mysteries and explain puzzles that underlie your new discoveries. It is one part artist. You experience even more deeply the beauty and wonder of the world and you present your discoveries in images, words and ideas. It is one part dreamer. You step back in amazement and wonder and imagine what you might find next. But to me, the most important part, the most exciting part, is to be able share all of these aspects with others and to be an educator. We all thirst to know more, to understand more. We seek to be amazed and inspired by the world. Thus, for me, engaging others in my scientific quests, teaching them and learning from them, is a central part of being a scientist. I hope you will join me on this next quest.

January 2016