Tall Timbers’ President and CEO Bill Palmer Ph.D., has dedicated much of his professional life to the bobwhite quail, conservation of the places they call home and the people working each day to ensure they have a vibrant future.
In recognition of that career of work, Palmer was inducted into the National Bobwhite & Grassland Initiative’s Hall of Fame in Tupelo, Mississippi on July 31.
Palmer came to Tall Timbers in 1996 and directed the Game Bird program where he developed a nationally recognized research program that has not only expanded our knowledge of the bobwhite quail but continues to pursue landscape-scale research projects, analyze long-term datasets and test innovative techniques for researching the birds and their habitat nationwide.
The Tall Timbers Board of Trustees selected Palmer as the organization’s new President and CEO in 2012.
Throughout his career, he has made connecting with landowners and managers just as pivotal, providing management advice and improving their hunting operations. Over his career, he has directly and indirectly established or restored hundreds of thousands of acres of quail habitat.
His work has significantly influenced both the scientific understanding of quail ecology and the practical application of management. Because of Palmer’s efforts, there are more wild quail in the world.
Palmer has mentored dozens of graduate students, technicians, and interns, some of whom are present at Tall Timbers today. That is a testament to his commitment to developing the next generation of quail conservation leaders. He always inspires his students and staff to develop research that is practical, applicable to the real world, and scientifically valid.
That work ethic has made an impact not only on the organization he leads, but the Southeast’s favorite 8-ounce bird, said Shane Wellendorf, Tall Timbers Land Conservancy Director and a former graduate student of Palmer’s.
“Bill Palmer has grown Tall Timbers into a national leader of quail ecology research, applied management studies and land conservation,” Wellendorf said. “Under his leadership, the number of acres of quail management and conservation continues to grow throughout the Red Hills, South Georgia and the Southeast. His research and management guidance are an inspiration to the next generation of landowners and conservation leaders.”
Palmer’s significant contributions include analysis of 40 years of quail band data from Tall Timbers – the longest-running research project on bobwhite – and development of hallmark applied research tools like the covey count survey and predator index survey and the use of supplemental feeding as a year-round management technique.
Tall Timbers’ Game Bird Program Director Dwayne Elmore said those techniques, plus many more, coupled with Palmer’s extensive outreach have made research approachable to the people out there doing work on their lands for the benefit of bobwhite.
“Bill was able to build strong partnerships, trust, and engagement with dozens of land managers on many thousands of acres of private lands,” Elmore said. “What good is research if not coupled with outreach and application? Few researchers could claim to have such an impact on the ground as Bill has in the Southeast. Another thing that has always stood out to me is Bill was never afraid of challenging dogma by designing experiments to critically test that dogma.”
But Palmer’s influence goes beyond the world of bobwhite quail research and has resulted in a legion of people who all share in the passion of conservation.
“Beyond Bill’s huge impact on bobwhite science, he has made a larger impact on bobwhite and pine savanna conservation by being able to hire and organize capable people and provide them with immense resources and vision,” said James Martin, a professor at the University of Georgia, Tall Timbers Board member and a former graduate student under Palmer.
“He has the uncanny ability to lead but not micromanage. He instills confidence in his mentees that they didn’t know they had,” continued Martin who introduced Palmer at the NBGI awards ceremony last month. “Altogether he has impacted wild bobwhite populations, the places they live, the hunters that pursue them, and the dogs they follow. He isn’t done yet as I expect he has a few more closing acts before retirement.”
