Wikipedia:Sandbox

Lovett Williams, Jr., known as a legend in the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) world and an Elective Member of the AOU since 1973, died on April 30, 2014, following a prolonged illness. He had a long career with the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission (GFC) before going into private consulting.

A sixth-generation Floridian, Lovett Edward Williams, Jr., was born to Lovett and Mary (Jones) Williams, Sr., on May 10, 1935, in Perry, Florida. He grew up hunting, fishing, and exploring the outdoors in Florida’s Big Bend region, and developed a keen interest in birds, particularly turkeys, a passion that drove his career from that point forward.

Lovett earned a B.S. in zoology from Florida State University (1957) and a M.S. in game management from Auburn University (1959). After more than 2 decades of working for the GFC he earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Florida (1985), with a dissertation entitled Reproductive Behavior and Performance of the Female Florida Wild Turkey.

In 1961, Lovett joined the GFC as a regional wildlife biologist in Lake City. In the mid-1960s Lovett developed the GFC Wildlife Research Project to conduct applied research on Florida’s wildlife management challenges. During his career with GFC, Lovett also led the Wild Turkey Research Project. He was a pioneer in studying Wild Turkey behavior, vocalizations, and trapping techniques. His early work using drugs like alphacholralose to trap birds, provided a new technique for collecting data and putting telemetry transmitters on birds while the birds were asleep. Once awake and alert, the turkeys were released in the same area or relocated to new habitats. He also played a pivotal role in the recovery of the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) population in Florida.

As the GFC Bureau Chief of Wildlife Research, Lovett worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the 1970s to establish the Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Florida. The co-op unit continues today as one of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC, the Florida agency that succeeded the GFC in 1999) most productive agencies, with hundreds of relevant research projects completed and dozens of students from the program ultimately joining the ranks of FWC staff. Lovett left the GFC in 1985 to pursue turkey research and consulting, including research on the Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata) in Guatemala.

During his career Lovett published over 40 peer-reviewed research papers and 10 books on wild turkeys and turkey hunting in Florida and Mexico. He wrote in an informal, accessible style that was equally informative and engaging. His book, The Art and Science of Wild Turkey Hunting (1989), is considered essential reading for serious turkey hunters. His other books ranged from the life of a Florida cracker to sounds of the Wild Turkey.

The National Wild Turkey Federation chose Lovett as one of the first recipients of its Henry S. Mosby Award for his research and conservation work. At the time of his death the FWC honored Lovett by naming its Gainesville research facility the Lovett E. Williams, Jr. Wildlife Research Laboratory. FWC Director Nick Wiley said of Williams, “Today, we almost take for granted that sound science should always inform wildlife conservation efforts, but it was Lovett’s passion, vision and creative leadership that made this a reality in Florida. We owe him our gratitude for this great accomplishment.”

Lovett is survived by 2 daughters, Mary Brooke Williams and Heather Keane Thomas, and a grandson, Hudson Thomas.