NEWS

Albert G. Way

Graduate Student Excellence-in-Research Award 2009

Albert G. Way, a doctoral graduate of history, conducted a pioneering study of the development of ecological conservation in Southern longleaf pine forests. His thesis addressed the rich environmental history of the Red Hills of south Georgia and north Florida, a region filled with quail-hunting plantations that have served as refuges for the endangered longleaf pine-wiregrass biome. Critical to the story was the work of Herbert Stoddard, a pioneering ornithologist, forester, and wildlife manager, who deserves much of the credit for preserving the few remaining pockets of mature longleaf forest and savanna. Way’s research shows how this landscape, and an abundance of game, attracted wealthy Northerners who bought up large tracts and became unlikely supporters of modern ecological land management. Way is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina.