Making a global footprint

Bill Taylor had an exceptional vision and an extraordinary ability to implement his vision. I am so fortunate to have worked with him and have observed his dynamic enthusiasm and remarkable achievements firsthand over the past three decades.In 1995, Bill hired me as an assistant professor through the Partnership for Ecosystem Research and Management (PERM) initiative in the Department of Fisheries in Wildlife (FW) at Michigan State University (MSU). In 1992, Bill took over as chairperson of FW with 13 faculty members. With John Robertson, Chief of the Fisheries Division in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), he built PERM, where MSU conducts the research that the DNR needs to manage Michigan's natural resources while the DNR provides the financial support. This was the first such partnership in the nation, and probably in the world. In 1999, Bill became the Interim Dean of the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources. When he reentered FW in 2001, he again grew the department and expanded the PERM to include federal agencies and the Great Lakes Fish Commission, this time negotiating joint positions throughout the MSU with several deans and department chairs that he had worked with at the Dean's level. Now FW boasts 50 FTE's with a wide variety of natural and social scientists.At some point during this process, Bill asked me where he should take the department next. I found that obvious and said, “Go Global”, by taking FW onto an international stage in a much bigger way, interacting with more international scientists and stakeholders, and generating a bigger global footprint. While Bill had been striving to make the department the best Fisheries and Wildlife Department in the country and had always supported international collaborations, his goal now was to make FW one of the best in the world. I provide a few highlights below.Bill was very supportive of international collaborations early on. After I received the offer from him to join FW, I began to plan research projects. At that time, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University's Institute for International Development. Although trained as an ecologist, I had a strong interest in integrating ecology with social sciences to better understand human-nature interactions. I also wanted to do some research at the international level besides projects in Michigan. The first international project that came to mind was to study human impacts on the giant panda habitat in China. I chose giant pandas as a focal species for several reasons. First, it is a global wildlife icon. Second, the panda was an endangered species. The main cause of the endangerment was human activities. However, researchers did not address the crucial issue but focused on the biology of giant pandas. Third, I originally came from China and know the language and culture. Fourth, a long-time friend from college, Zhiyun Ouyang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was a visiting scholar at Tufts University near Harvard. I discussed my idea with Zhiyun, and he liked it and was enthusiastic to collaborate with me. Since he had begun to do some work in Wolong Nature Reserve for panda conservation in Sichuan Province, Southwestern China, we decided to start our collaboration in Wolong Nature Reserve. Bill supported the international collaborative efforts in various ways. One way was to visit Wolong Nature Reserve in the late 1990’s. To show friendship with colleagues in Wolong and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he accepted all the toasts at the dinner table. As a result, he was severely drunk and slept until noon the next day. When he showed up for lunch, he got a standing ovation and big applause. Even today, colleagues in Wolong and the Chinese Academy of Science still remember and appreciate Bill's “sacrifice” for friendship. The panda habitat has been transformed from long-term losses to recovery. In 2016, the International Union for Conservation for Nature (IUCN) removed the panda from the endangered species list. Our collaborations with Wolong and the Chinese Academy of Science continue.Bill not only supported international research but also provided numerous students with international education experiences. He encouraged faculty to develop study abroad courses. Students were taken to various places around the world, such as Madagascar, South Africa, Kenya, Portugal, and Antarctica, to name a few. Bill, along with some other faculty members, designed and implemented courses in Greece, Turkey, Egypt, England, and Scotland. He and his wife Evelyn have supported many students through their William W. and Evelyn Taylor Endowed Fellowship for International Engagement in Coupled Human and Natural Systems.Bill established many productive outreach partnerships not only at the state and national levels but also at the global level. He viewed freshwater fish as an important source of sustenance and livelihood for the world. To promote his view to the global level, he wanted the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) based in Rome to co-host a Global Inland Fisheries Conference with MSU. While in Rome planning one of those study abroad courses, Bill convinced his friend and colleague Mohamed Faisal to contact FAO. They gained access but were met with skepticism – who are you? and why do you think you can do that? Bill saw the initial no as a yes in waiting. He went to work – network, network, network – and created a worldwide cadre of like-minded professionals. After five years, in January 2015, the Global Inland Fisheries Conference hosted by FAO and MSU sprag to life. MSU president Lou Anna K Simon opened the event. A global audience of over 200 scientists and other professionals representing every continent attended. A group Infish grew from these efforts and still meets online. A second conference is being considered.Also grown from Bill's efforts for the Global Inland Fisheries Conference are new Global Fisheries Positions in FW to further advance international research, education, policy, governance, and management. The search for the first position failed for the first time. Abby Bennett was one of the applicants. Her expertise fit the job description, but she was just finishing her PhD at Duke University with little experience. Bill met with her while he and his wife Evelyn visited their daughter Lauren in Raleigh, North Carolina. Bill sent Abby to Rome to work with FAO to get that experience. She was later hired by FW and The Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability and has been thriving. The second position has been recently filled by another outstanding junior scholar – Mar Mancha-Cisneros.Bill's global impact on research, education, and outreach will be last lasting. Personally, I am most grateful that Bill and I have been close friends and colleagues for three decades. Bill always said that it is amazing that a boy from rural New York could become close friends with a boy from rural China. In my view, it is his remarkable vision and willingness to take risks that “metacoupled” us – brought us from afar and bonded us together – to make a difference worldwide.