In 1996 and with the help of others, Dr. John S. Barclay, associate professor of wildlife, in the Department of Natural Resources Management and Engineering, was instrumental in acquiring an initial donation that made the Wildlife Conservation Research Center a possibility. The Center was approved by the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees in February 1997.
Barclay, the first director of the Center, envisioned a holistic approach to conservation problems in respect to contaminants, declining populations and endangered species and hoped for a strong outreach programto get information to the public. Having grown up on Connecticuts coast, he had a special interest in the decline of the greater scaup duck. With a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, he monitored the effect of contaminants in this game bird's diet while it overwintered in an area between New Jersey and Cape Cod.
The other main research project that first year involved the rare eastern mud turtle, which lives on Long Island Sound. The Long Island chapter of the Nature Conservancy supplied the grant.
Barclay was tireless in promoting the Center and obtaining funding to broaden the scope of wildlife research projects to include more native species. He is known to have extensive knowledge of the natural history of animals and forest plants and was always captivating to students on field trips during courses.
