Bob Hay – Director

Robert (Bob) W. Hay, Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Specialist and Retired Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) Herpetologist.   Bob has had a keen interest in reptiles and amphibians since he was a young child, subjecting his mother to many scary occasions as he came home with the “next surprise”.  His love for these “underdog animals”, as he often refers to them, led him to attend UW-Steven Point where he majored in Natural Resources Management.  For 17 year after college, Bob spent much of his free time studying herptiles in the wild and conducting voluntary educational programs in schools and other venues around Wisconsin.  His voluntary work with the WDNR’s, Bureau of Endangered Resources eventually led to his hiring as the state’s first herpetologist, where he spent nearly 19 years working on the conservation and recovery of the state’s 10 endangered and threatened herptiles.  Bob has co-authored several small books on Wisconsin’s native amphibians and reptiles.  His passion for turtles has led to the development of recovery strategies for Ornate Box Turtles and Wood Turtles.  While working at the WDNR he managed these recovery efforts and has been actively and intimately involve with their implementation since retiring in 2009.  Bob has a small army of volunteers (>40) that assist with these recovery efforts each year.