Diana Shaffer receives top national wildlife rehabilitation award
On
March 13, at the annual NWRA (National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association)
symposium in Chicago, Diana Shaffer was presented with the Lifetime Achievement
Award. The award, the top honor in the nation afforded to wildlife rehabilitators,
is “given to an individual whose primary identification is with
wildlife rehabilitation and who has contributed to the field in a major
way for many years.”
The NWRA, founded in 1982, now has 2,000 members from around the world.
In his presentation speech, Curt Clumpner, a rehabilitator with the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Oregon, offered the following words about Diana:
I actually nominated someone this year. But when I read the proposal for the person who won, I had to admit that she was more deserving than my own nomination, and so I was forced to vote for her.
The recipient of the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award has committed the last 45 years to wildlife rehabilitation and education. She has educated thousands of children and adults about wildlife behavior and conservation, as well as the importance of wildlife habitat preservation. She has inspired many individuals to pursue careers in wildlife biology, veterinary medicine, and the field of wildlife rehabilitation. It is her belief that when a candle is used to light another, its brightness is never diminished.
She has been a tireless advocate for professional networking by encouraging positive relationships among rehabilitators, falconers, law enforcement, veterinarians, media, volunteers, and the public. She pioneered high quality, progressive wildlife rehabilitation and education while working and raising a family.
She’s been the director of Wildlife Rescu Haus, Inc., in Indiana since she founded it in 1964. I don’t know about the rest of you, but in 1964 I was still in junior high school and I’d certainly never heard of anyone who did anything like wildlife rehabilitation.
For several years during the 1990s she hosted a local access television show, Animal Talk, and in 1993 she was the subject of a national PBS show, A Friend of the Wild, which documented events in the life of a wildlife rehabilitator.
In recognition of her dedication and work for the benefit of the wildlife and public education, it’s a great pleasure that NWRA presents the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award to Diana Shaffer.
