Scott Sauer

Background

About Scott Sauer

I'm an ecologist specializing in field botany, entomology, and natural area management. I have strong technical skills in documentation - narrative, photography, and data collection - and strong critical thinking based on life experiences and interests in a wide variety of subjects. My road to conservation is unconventional. My undergraduate education includes a BA in English from the University of Iowa, extensive travel in Europe, and self-directed study in History, Photography, and Art History. Armed with a Liberal Arts education, I spent two summers working for the Forest Service in central Idaho. I spent the intervening winter in the vibrant pre-grunge art and music culture of Seattle. Moving to Madison in 1988, I became caught up in the local conservation community. I initially volunteered with The Nature Conservancy on prescribed fire and invasive species control. I later became involved with the Ice Age Trail and The Prairie Enthusiasts. In 1989, I began a prairie restoration on the family farm in central Iowa using local seed. I earned an MS in Environmental Studies in 1996 with a concentration on community ecology and plant ecology and conservation. As a researcher for the Wisconsin DNR, I spent over a decade doing intensive biological inventory, traveling throughout Wisconsin. I was responsible for direct management of study databases and an entomology lab. I became adept at the field identification of invertebrates and developed a keen appreciation of the subtleties in grassland types and site histories. Based on this experience, I feel I am one of the premier prairie ecologists in the upper Midwest. I'm currently focused on helping private landowners and non-profits see the big picture when it comes to conserving the natural character of their properties. While I do do a little hands-on management, I'm much more interested in having people appreciate the complexity and depth of the dynamics at play, whether the site be large or small. I'm interested in a conversation about the land as much as its conservation, and believe that story telling is a crucial part of that understanding.