My Life in Biology: Paul A. Johnsgard

I was born in 1931 in the very small town of Christine, North Dakota, on the Red River about 20 miles south of Fargo. My granddad owned a general store there, and my father worked in that store for as long as we lived in Christine, which was until 1939. These were the Depression years, and my major memories of that time are of hot dusty streets in the summer and bitterly cold winters, when I had to walk across town to school. ... Waterfowl became increasingly important to me because of my mother\u27s cousin Bud Morgan, who at that time was a game warden. By the time I was II he had started taking me out on his spring duck counts, where he taught me how to identify waterfowl. That, I think, was especially important in directing me toward studying waterfowl. By the time I was 13, I was given a copy of F.H. Kortright\u27s Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America, which I practically memorized. ... Sections: Early Years 1931-1949 Undergraduate years and Frank Cassel 1949-1953 Washington State College and Charles Yocom 1953-1956 Cornell University and Charles Sibley 1956-1969 The Wildfowl Trust and Peter Scott 1959-1961 Nebraska and the University of Nebraska 1961 - present Popular Writing Writing Influences Reading and Literary Models Drawing and Wood Sculpture Teaching Cedar Point Biological Station 1958-1993; 2008 Hunting and Photography Conservation Religious Belief