2022 George B. Hartzog, Jr. Awards Recipients

Dr. Eric Dinerstein is the Director of WildTech at RESOLVE and the co-developer of TrailGuard AI. Eric has extensive experience conducting field research on rhinos and tigers in Asia beginning in 1975 in the Bardia National Park of Nepal and then from 1984-1989 as a biologist with the Smithsonian where he led field research and monitoring of rhinos and tigers in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park.

For twenty-five years (1989-2014) he was Chief Scientist at the World Wildlife Fund. Eric has also played a central role in creating the conservation plans for many iconic landscapes—including the Terai Arc in Nepal, the panda mountains of China, and the Galapagos.

Eric has published widely on the biology and conservation of tigers, rhinos, and elephants and authored several books on these species and on biological rarity. More recently, he led two publications calling for a Global Deal for Nature aimed at saving life on Earth and stabilizing the climate and another paper to operationalize it, called The Global Safety Net, both published in Science Advances. He is also a co-author on a new paper to provide the scientific basis for a pragmatic approach to rewilding large mammal species to restore intact vertebrate assemblages globally.

Alan Spears uses real-life stories and a conversational style to connect with his audiences to promote NPCA’s advocacy and the critical role the National Park Service plays in protecting, interpreting and managing this nation’s historic and cultural resources.

A veteran advocate and member of the Government Affairs department, Alan leads community outreach and legislative engagement on a variety of park protection issues. Recent victories include joining with NPCA colleagues, partners and allies to win the designation of the Fort Monroe, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad, Colonel Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers, Pullman, and Birmingham Civil Rights National Monuments.

Alan’s current efforts include National Heritage Area program defense, serving as NPCA’s lead coordinator for the Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools national park designation campaign, and work in Mississippi to create a new national park site commemorating the legacy of Emmett Till, Mamie Till-Mobley, and the foot soldiers of the Mississippi civil rights movement.

Dr. Maria Whitehead is an ornithologist, professor, and conservation professional.   She has worked for 15 years in land and water resource protection in the Southeast and the interdisciplinary realm of climate adaptation and community resilience.  As a coastal program manager for The Nature Conservancy, she helped initiate a water fund program to establish oyster restoration sites, protect tidal wetlands and address wetland migration in South Carolina. Today, as Vice President and Director of Land for the Southeast at Open Space Institute, she guides the strategic direction of land conservation to realize OSI’s mission of protecting scenic, natural and historic landscapes. She serves as the lead on varied conservation projects and initiatives including landscape-scale conservation projects, comprehensive community engagement strategies, and conservation finance tactics. In less than six years she has assisted in the permanent protection of more than 55,000 acres of some of the most important and imperiled Southeast landscapes.

 In recent years, Whitehead has worked with community leaders, conservation professionals and state agency staff to establish a park network along SC’s Black River which includes the first state park in SC in over 20 years.  The visionary project seeks a new paradigm for conservation in the Southeast.  In addition to habitat and cultural resource protection, the Black River Initiative focuses on rural economic opportunity, improving access to nature-based recreation in underserved communities, and mitigating the impacts of climate change.      

Whitehead received her BA in Biology from Davidson College, her MS from University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and her Ph.D. from Clemson University’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Furman University, The Citadel, and the College of Charleston.  She currently teaches for Clemson’s Master of Wildlife and Fisheries Resources Program.