Executive Summary

In 1988, John D. Archbold generously donated his Springfield Plantation, a 190-acre tract located on the island of Dominica in the East Caribbean, to Clemson University. John Archbold's vision for his Springfield Plantation was to create a facility where scientist and educators would be able to study tropical ecosystems, natural resources, aquaculture, and community forestry in an uninterrupted serene environment. Through the efforts of Dr. Ben Box, Dean of the College of Forest and Recreation Resources at Clemson University, and his numberous contacts with John D. Archbold over a two year period, this generous gift was realized.

Since the inception of the Archbold Tropical Research Center in 1988, several changes have taken place in the dynamics of the Center, including management shifts at Clemson University to programmatic direction and project work. However, in early 2000, Dr. John Kelly, Vice President for Public Service and Agriculture at Clemson University, appointed Dr. Merle Shepard as Director of Archbold Tropical Research and Education Consortium. This entity is composed of participating institutions that share the vision of John D. Archbold and are currently involved or are planning research and training activities on Dominica. Dr. Shepard was given the opportunity to implement the vision John Archbold had for Springfield over a decade before.