The title, which carries a modest one-year stipend, will accompany expanded activities for Mancke, who was a distinguished lecturer in the School of the Environment from 2002 through 2008. He will continue to serve as an adjunct and teach the popular undergraduate course “Natural History of South Carolina” as well as a graduate seminar on natural history. As naturalist-in-residence under the auspices of the Office of the Provost, Mancke will also serve as a guest lecturer across the University and engage in various outreach and continuing education projects.

“Current interest in sustainability often focuses on technology,” University President Harris Pastides said. “We often neglect the importance of conservation and the lessons that nature can provide. I am proud to have elevated one of our own, Rudy Mancke, to a newly created post that symbolizes Carolina’s respect for the profound beauty and importance of our natural surroundings.”

In addition to teaching his regular classes, Mancke said he would lead several “walks and talks” throughout the year and would also be involved in “what I like to call ‘K through gray’ education with citizens around the state. I also want to connect with more faculty across campus -- in education, the law school, and in arts and sciences -- to provide guest lectures for their respective disciplines.

“Universities have poets-in-residence and writers-in-residence -- a naturalist-in-residence is a logical extension of a liberal arts education,” Mancke said. “Studying natural history will make you a better physician, a better observer of the world around you, and a better rounded individual. And it teaches people how to make connections and to think on their feet.”

Mancke, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at Wofford College and completed two years of graduate study at Carolina before serving in the U.S. Army in 1969, acquired much of his knowledge of natural history through self study and a voracious curiosity about the natural world.

“My definition of a naturalist is someone who studies the world of nature and marvels at it,” he said. “I don’t care who I meet or where I meet them, people share their own stories about natural history. ‘What is this thing I saw? Is it unusual for a butterfly to try to land on my arm or to see a particular kind of salamander in this location?’

“Naturalists are supposed to give an explanation, impart an understanding of what people see in nature, and then inspire people to want to preserve it.”

While on staff at the S.C. State Museum in the 1970s, Mancke founded the South Carolina Association of Naturalists and later joined S.C. ETV as director of science and nature programming. He has received the National Wildlife Federation's Achievement Award, the Environmental Education Association Award, the Phi Delta Kappa Friend of Education Award, the Governor's Award for Excellence in Science, the S.C. Environmental Awareness Award, the Margaret Douglas Award of the Garden Club of America, and the S.C. Science Council's Doris Helms Award for Exemplary Contributions to the Development of Educational Opportunities.

(Images provided by The University of South Carolina.)

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