On Frank Golley’s International and Interdisciplinary Insights for a Twenty-First Century Earth Stewardship Based on Environmental Ethics - Earth Stewardship: Linking Ecology and Ethics in Theory and Practice - page 419

29.1 Introduction

The challenges of sustaining the planet require additional ways for professional ecol-
ogists and others to contribute to the emerging concepts of Earth Stewardship based
on interdisciplinary and international collaboration (Chapin et al. 2015 in this vol-
ume [Chap. 12 ]; Rozzi et al. 2012 ). For more than a century ecologists, conservation
biologists, and many others have debated how to respond to the losses of biodiversity
and habitats as well as the planet's carrying capacity (Hutchinson 1948 ; Di Pasquo
2013 ; Kingsland 2015 in this volume [Chap. 2 ]). Along with his international col-
leagues, Frank Golley brought people together to focus on the importance of species
and their values to societies around the world (Fig. 29.1 ). Golley's global perspective
on environmental issues that threatened the planet's sustainability was based on fi rst-
hand experiences in many parts of the world and the results of his active involvement
in large-scale, tropical research studies. Golley and his network of international col-
leagues developed pragmatic views that emphasized the total value of ecosystems.
These new ideas and methods combined perspectives from anthropology, econom-
ics, ecology, and environmental ethics that continue to remain highly relevant to the
ongoing discussions today regarding the roles of professional ecologists and conser-
vationists. There is an increasing need to communicate more effectively to a wider
audience regarding the value of natural ecosystems and the provisions of goods and

Fig. 29.1 Frank Golley
in 1991 on campus at the
University of Georgia's
Institute of Ecology in Athens
(Photo by Media Services,
University of Georgia)