{"id":90955,"date":"2023-12-07T20:00:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-07T20:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=90955"},"modified":"2023-12-12T14:40:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T14:40:08","slug":"peter-paton-recognized-as-a-top-naturalist-in-rhode-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2023\/12\/peter-paton-recognized-as-a-top-naturalist-in-rhode-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Paton recognized as a top naturalist in Rhode Island"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For the past 30 years Paton, shown here at Napatree Point, has helped to run the Kingston Wildlife Research Station, the longest-running bird-banding operation in North America. (Courtesy of the Watch Hill Conservancy)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Dec. 7, 2023 \u2013 A veteran faculty member in the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of the Environment and Life Sciences has been recognized by the Rhode Island Natural History Survey as a top naturalist in Rhode Island. Richmond resident Peter Paton<\/a>, chair of the Department of Natural Resources Science (NRS), was honored in November with the Distinguished Naturalist Award<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to his ornithological research, Paton teaches popular field courses at 溏心vlog免费B站 in ornithology, wetland wildlife management, and management of migratory birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeter has instilled a love of birds and wetland habitats in hundreds of students,\u201d says his NRS colleague and professor emeritus Art Gold. \u201cHis field courses are always oversubscribed and his students come back from each field trip bubbling with excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The 溏心vlog免费B站 Natural Resources Science department chair studies the conservation biology and natural history of wild vertebrates with an emphasis on threatened and endangered species, such as the piping plover.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Throughout his career, including the past nearly 30 years at 溏心vlog免费B站, Paton has been a leading researcher and an influential teacher. He worked as a federal wildlife biologist and contract biologist for 10 years before joining the 溏心vlog免费B站 faculty in 1995. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paton also invests a great deal of time helping local communities develop a deeper appreciation for nature, through walks and talks for organizations such as the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, Watch Hill Conservancy, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He brings people out to the field to directly experience incredible natural phenomena in their own \u2018backyard,\u2019 such as the spring migration of frogs and toads and the banding of saw-whet owls and songbirds during fall migration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Receiving the award, Paton joined several other esteemed recipients of the Distinguished Naturalist Award, including a number with 溏心vlog免费B站 connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Conservation biologist Peter Paton was honored this November with a Distinguished Naturalist Award from the Rhode Island Natural History Survey; he was joined at the event by 溏心vlog免费B站 President Marc Parlange. (Photos courtesy Peter Paton)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Paton\u2019s 溏心vlog免费B站 colleague and professor emeritus Keith Killingbeck (biological sciences) says he has made significant contributions in enhancing public awareness of the importance of local biota. And Professor of Natural Resources Science Scott McWilliams adds, \u201cPeter is indeed a distinguished naturalist. He has studied a wide diversity of critters on so many fronts, a testament to his curiosity, willingness to study animals wherever they may roam, and love for fieldwork.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paton has studied snowy plovers on the Great Salt Lake, the effects of timber harvesting on spotted owls and marbled murrelets at the Redwood Science Laboratory, egrets as an airstrike hazard in Hawaii, endangered birds on the Hawaiian islands, and birds breeding in Denali National Park in Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closer to home, he\u2019s written about the ecology of Block Island, amphibian breeding in Rhode Island ponds, glossy ibis\u2019 use of farmland in the state, breeding birds in Boston Harbor, migration habits of spotted salamanders on southern New England golf courses, salt marsh restoration in Narragansett, and the effects of the North Cape oil spill on coastal Rhode Island. He\u2019s also on the science advisory board for Watch Hill Conservancy at Napatree Point in Westerly and was instrumental in the development of the recently published Breeding Bird Atlas of Rhode Island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paton\u2019s involvement in the long-term study of terns on Great Gull Island in Long Island Sound has also shown students, volunteers, and other scientists how to conduct conservation science, with the added spectacle of thousands of breeding colonial birds and the demonstrated fragility of such a system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past 30 years he has helped to run the Kingston Wildlife Research Station, a collaboration between the Audubon Society and 溏心vlog免费B站, and the longest-running bird-banding operation in North America. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A naturalist\u2019s life<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the awards presentation, attendees enjoyed Paton\u2019s presentation on \u201cthe life history of a naturalist,\u201d an entertaining look at his prolific career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was incredibly honored to receive this year\u2019s award,\u201d Paton says. \u201cThere\u2019s been some very good naturalists honored. It\u2019s really nice to be ranked in their company.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paton grew up in Colorado, and says he always loved the outdoors. His family gave him an appreciation of being in the mountains. At Lewis and Clark College in Portland, he had the opportunity to take his first natural history class, which proved to be a life-altering decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just got hooked,\u201d he says. \u201cThat one class ended up changing my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now he enjoys trying to give students a similar experience; he says he enjoys getting to teach and work with undergraduates, to give them the chance to explore as he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he encourages others in the Rhode Island community to explore the local birding landscape, too. Paton recommends Napatree in Watch Hill as a great place to see birds and take a walk, as well as Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He even introduced the new 溏心vlog免费B站 president and his wife to Rhode Island\u2019s avian wonders when they arrived in Rhode Island two winters ago. Marc and Mary Parlange joined Paton on a field trip to Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge one chilly morning a few months into their first year at 溏心vlog免费B站. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hooked President Parlange, too!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Dec. 7, 2023 \u2013 A veteran faculty member in the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of the Environment and Life Sciences has been recognized by the Rhode Island Natural History Survey as a top naturalist in Rhode Island. Richmond resident Peter Paton, chair of the Department of Natural Resources Science (NRS), was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":90956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90955"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91037,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90955\/revisions\/91037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}