By Micaela Myers
Looking at the 44,000-square-foot Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center—complete with its thriving living roof and equally thriving learning environment
inside—it’s hard to believe it all started on a dinner napkin. It’s the story of one
very passionate professor and an equally passionate donor. Together they helped create
a host of new opportunities for University of Wyoming students and faculty, as well
as the community beyond—and they’re not done yet.
Fast friendship: Craig Benkman came to UW in 2004 as the new Robert B. Berry Distinguished Chair in Ecology, bringing with him an impressive record of research and publications. The endowed chair position put Benkman in contact with UW supporters Robert (Bob) and Carol Berry of Sheridan, Wyo., and the families quickly became friends.
“The Berrys have been very important donors for conservation throughout the world,” Benkman says, adding that they have a special affinity for bird conservation, an area of particular interest to him as well.
At a Cowboys football game in 2005, Benkman and Berry started talking about ways to further help the university and the programs closest to their hearts. At dinner that night, Benkman recalls, “The first thing Bob does is pull out a napkin and starts drawing floor plans for a new building.” That building would become the Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center, which opened in January 2011.
Special gifts: Benkman believes endowed chair positions such as his offer many opportunities for their departments, a sentiment echoed by Biodiversity Institute Director Carlos Martinez del Rio, who says Benkman has created a “nuclei of excellence” and demonstrated what can be accomplished by someone who generates such enthusiasm.
Expanded opportunities: The endowed chair has enabled Benkman to pursue collaborations with colleagues in Europe and in Vietnam, and to continue his research with students on a rapidly evolving population of crossbills in southern Idaho. The birds’ populations have declined 80 percent since 2003. He will also continue to lead, teach and mentor, as he has done for 20 years.
As for the Berry Center and UW’s Biodiversity Institute, which is housed inside, Benkman says, “I think there’s going to be a tremendous expansion in outreach and education. There are a lot of initiatives that Carlos is pursuing that will really increase educational opportunities in biodiversity and related sciences in K-12, adult education and at the university.
“People here are really furthering the visions that Bob helped instill.”
With Benkman and Berry sharing a passion for conservation, there’s no telling what will emerge from their next dinner together, but one thing is sure: It will benefit teaching, learning and even the birds in the forest.
