Robert E. Beck Jr. (September 2, 1944 – May 24, 2008) was a

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and conservationist, who worked to save Guam's indigenous native birds from 1982 to 2003. Beck championed the fight to save Guam's native birds, such as the

Mariana crow The Mariana crow (''Corvus kubaryi'') ( Chamorro name: ''åga'') is a species of the crow family from the tropical Western Pacific. It is a glossy black bird about long and known only from the islands of Guam and Rota. It is a rare bird which ...

, rufous fantail,

Guam flycatcher The Guam flycatcher (''Myiagra freycineti''), or Guam broadbill, is an extinct species of bird in the family Monarchidae formerly endemic to Guam. Taxonomy and systematics Some authorities consider the Guam flycatcher to have been a subspecies o ...

Guam kingfisher The Guam kingfisher (''Todiramphus cinnamominus''), called in Chamorro, is a species of kingfisher from the United States Territory of Guam. It is restricted to a captive breeding program following its extinction in the wild due primarily to ...

and the

Guam rail The Guam rail (''Hypotaenidia owstoni''), known locally and in Chamorro as ''ko'ko, is a small, terrestrial bird endemic to Guam in the Rallidae family. They are one of the island's few remaining endemic bird species. The species became extinc ...

, known locally as ko'ko' in Chamorro, which are under the extreme threat of

extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

due to the non-native

brown tree snake The brown tree snake (''Boiga irregularis''), also known as the brown catsnake, is an arboreal rear-fanged colubrid snake native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, eastern Indonesia (Sulawesi to Papua), Papua New Guinea, and many island ...

and

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. The rufous fantail and the Guam flycatcher listed above are now extinct in the wild in their native Guam. However, the captive and wild populations of the Mariana crow, Guam rail and the Micronesian kingfisher have increased, due in large part to conservation efforts by Beck.

Early life

Bob Beck was born in

Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. The population was 43,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's List of municipalities in Maryland, sixth-most popu ...

, on September 2, 1944. His parents were Robert E. Beck Sr. and Ruth Powles Beck. Beck graduated from Hagerstown High School in 1962. He obtained his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

with a concentration in

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

. He completed his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in zoology with an emphasis on

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

and

population biology The term population biology has been used with different meanings. In 1971, Edward O. Wilson ''et al''. used the term in the sense of applying mathematical models to population genetics, community ecology, and population dynamics. Alan Hasting ...

at the

, the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

and the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. He started his career as a school teacher in the

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat is Rockville, Maryland ...

public school system A state school, public school, or government school is a primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-funded schools ar ...

Guamanian bird conservation

Beck moved to

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

in 1974 and initially worked as a school teacher for several years. He eventually left teaching to become a zoologist with the

Guam Department of Agriculture The Guam Department of Agriculture is a government agency in the United States territory of Guam. Its headquarters are in the village Mangilao.Rota, in the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States consistin ...

Wildlife biologist A wildlife biologist studies animals and their behavior along with the role each animal plays in its natural habitat. The duties of a wildlife biologist can include: developing and conducting experiments/studies on animals in their natural habitat ...

Gary Wiles was quoted in the

Pacific Daily News The ''Pacific Daily News'', formerly ''Guam Daily News'', is an online newspaper based in Hagåtña, in the United States territory of Guam. It is owned by Kaleo Moylan. History ''Guam Daily News'' began as a newspaper of the United States Navy ...

as crediting Beck for saving the species, "Bob was one of the first to begin organizing catching the birds so they could be brought into captivity, held there and bred. He started a captive population. We still have Guam rails today because of his efforts." Beck was also a driving force for the establishment of

captive breeding Captive breeding, also known as captive propagation, is the process of keeping plants or animals in controlled environments, such as wildlife reserves, zoos, Botanical garden, botanic gardens, and other Conservation biology, conservation facilitie ...

programs for native Guam rails in

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

s throughout the United States. The Guam rail breeding program initially began at just three zoos, the

Bronx Zoo The Bronx Zoo (also historically the Bronx Zoological Park and the Bronx Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within Bronx Park in the Bronx, New York City. It is one of the largest zoos in the United States by area and the largest Metropolis, metropol ...

, the

Philadelphia Zoo The Philadelphia Zoo is a zoo located in the Centennial District of Philadelphia on the west bank of the Schuylkill River. It was the first true zoo in the United States; it was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859 ...

and the National Zoo in Washington D.C. However, the program has been expanded to include seventeen zoos nationwide, including the

Audubon Zoo Audubon Zoo is an American zoo located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is part of the Audubon Nature Institute which also manages Audubon Aquarium, Audubon Louisiana Nature Center, Freeport-McMoran Species Survival Center, Audubon Park, and Audu ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in San Diego, California, United States, located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park. It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its ...

. There are now over 120 individual Guam rails at the program's facilities on Guam and thirty-five Guam rails on the mainland United States. Bob Beck stayed on Guam and remained involved in his programs following his

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

in 2003. He died in

Tamuning, Guam Tamuning, also known as Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon (), is a village located on the western shore of the United States territory of Guam. The village of Tamuning is the economic center of Guam, containing tourist center Tumon, Harmon Industrial Park, ...

, on May 24, 2008 at the age of 63. He was married to his wife, Patricia Rossett, from 1978 until 1992. The couple had two children, Erik R. Beck and Joanna R. Beck.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beck, Bob 1944 births 2008 deaths Guamanian conservationists American conservationists People from Hagerstown, Maryland University of Maryland, College Park alumni