Book a Speaker

The Aldo Leopold Foundation has speakers available for the following topics:

    • The life and legacy of Aldo Leopold
    • Leopold's Land Ethic
    • Land health
    • Private land conservation
    • Natural resource conservation
    • Phenology and climate change
    • Biodiversity
    • Conservation leadership
    • The design and construction of the Leopold Center
    • The work of the Aldo Leopold Foundation
    • Plus, talks custom tailored to your group’s interests

    For presentations that take place out of the Baraboo area, we do ask for funds to cover our mileage and travel expenses. Depending on the speaker requested and the context of your gathering, we may ask for a speaker honorarium to support the work of the Aldo Leopold Foundation as well. For general presentations on the life and legacy of Aldo Leopold, you may want to consider purchasing a screening license for our new documentary film, Green Fire. This 73-minute high definition documentary does an excellent job exploring Aldo Leopold’s life in the early part of the twentieth century and the many ways his land ethic idea continues to be applied all over the world today.

Keynote level speakers

StanProfessor Stanley Temple is recently retired from the academic position at the University of Wisconsin once held by Aldo Leopold. He is now a Professor Emeritus and a Senior Fellow at the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Professor Temple is a noted authority on conservation issues and Aldo Leopold’s contributions to the field. He is a popular public speaker, and while at the University of Wisconsin he won every teaching award for which he was eligible. He has done conservation work in 21 countries. He has received national and international recognition for his diverse contributions to the field of conservation. Among his accomplishments, he is a past President of the Society for Conservation Biology and past Chairman of the Wisconsin Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. He has authored over 330 publications on conservation and ecology.

Your group can book a lecture to coincide with a visit to the Leopold Center, or Dr. Temple can arrange to come to your group’s meeting place. In addition to travel expenses, we charge a negotiable lecture fee. To make arrangements for a lecture, please contact Professor Temple directly at satemple@aldoleopold.org.

BuddyBuddy Huffaker has been the Executive Director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation since 1999 (he joined the Foundation as Ecologist in 1996).  Engaged nationally in the conservation movement, Huffaker has participated in the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation and was elected to represent the Northeast Region at the US Forest Service’s Centennial Congress.  In addition, he has contributed to two books; The Farm as a Natural Habitat (Island Press) and Aldo Leopold and the Ecological Conscience (Oxford University Press). 

Building upon his academic background in landscape architecture, Huffaker was deeply involved in every aspect of the design and construction of the Leopold Center and now serves as a leading voice for the importance of merging the interests of the green building and conservation movements.  Buddy holds a degree in Not-for-Profit Management in the Kellogg School of Management Executive Scholar Program at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and has earned a Certificate in Fundraising Management from The Fundraising School at Indiana University (Indianapolis, IN).

Your group can book a lecture to coincide with a visit to the Leopold Center, or Buddy can arrange to come to your group’s meeting place. In addition to travel expenses, we charge a negotiable lecture fee. To make arrangements for a lecture, please contact Buddy directly at buddy@aldoleopold.org.

SteveSteve Swenson has served as the foundation's Ecologist since 1999, and has gathered more than a few good stories about what it means to own and care for land.  Steve directs the science and stewardship work at the Leopold Family Shack and Farm, a National Historic Landmark.  This work serves as the basis for partnership and communication with private landowners and resource professionals throughout the Midwest.  Most recently, Steve authored a series of landowner handbooks covering Southwest Wisconsin, Southeast Minnesota, and Southern Arkansas reaching 30,000 landowners (owning 6 million acres).  These photo-rich handbooks help further the reader’s journey in their relationship to land.  Locally, Steve helps coordinate a partnership of neighbors called the Leopold-Pine Island Important Bird Area.  This 15,000 acre partnership offers many great examples of how good science, communication, and relationships offer hope for real conservation success. 

Over the years, Steve’s work has help evolve the foundation and its work.  In 2005-2007, Steve coordinated the harvest of 100,000 board feet of lumber from the historic Leopold Family Farm in the building of the Leopold Legacy Center.  This triumphant example of green building design humbly took what the land provided, as plans and design incorporated what came from the forest.  Steve has years of experience in all manner of experiences to share, including information on prairie restoration, prescribed burning, timber management, invasive species control, data collection, and management planning.  Steve received his Bachelor’s degree (1995) in environmental science and biology from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay and a Master’s degree (1999) in plant ecology from The Ohio State University.  Steve, wife Heidi and sons Aaron and Soren live in Baraboo, WI. 

Your group can book a lecture to coincide with a visit to the Leopold Center, or Steve can arrange to come to your group’s meeting place. In addition to travel expenses, we charge a negotiable lecture fee. To make arrangements for a lecture, please contact Steve directly at steve@aldoleopold.org.