jeremy's blog

I'm not quite sure that I will be able to make it all work, but I have signed up for Ecology of Streams & Rivers, and Advanced Image Processing. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get out of work early enough (1:30 pm) to to make the Ecology of Streams & Rivers course work. Yeah I have a flexible schedule at work, but I don't know if I'm willing to stay at work until 6:30 pm on MWF to make up for the time that I will be missing on TTh. Also with the election in November, I think it will be a safe bet that I'll be pretty involved in various activities.

The obiturary for Dr. Forbes was an article in the Oregonian and as a result didn't make into their archives. After bugging several staff members at the Oregonian, then sent me the article in an email, which I posted below.

THE OREGONIAN
EX-PROFESSOR, 'MORAL CENTER' OF PSU BIOLOGY, DIES AT 65
Sunday, July 21, 2002 Section: LOCAL STORIES Edition: SUNRISE Page: B06

Richard Forbes, who retired in 2000,still mentored junior faculty and
kept up the vertebrate collection Richard Forbes had a habit of reassuring
nervous students by repeating the same four words: "You're doing just fine."
The Portland State University biology professor repeated the phrase so often,
in fact, that one of his students put it on a wooden sign. Forbes made sure
that sign was prominently displayed when he administered exams.
"He was always most encouraging no matter what," said Darlene Philpott, who
graduated with a biology degree in 1994. Biologist. Teacher. Writer.
Photographer. Husband and father. Richard B. Forbes died Thursday, July 18,
2002. He was 65. Though he relinquished the title of professor of biology at
Portland State University in July 2000, Forbes took the responsibilities of
professor emeritus to heart. He'd come to campus nearly every day to mentor
junior faculty, maintain PSU's vertebrate collection and serve on thesis
committees. "I would describe him as the moral center of our department," Stan
Hillman, chairman of the PSU biology department, said Friday. Forbes was born
July 29, 1936, in Correctionville, Iowa. He earned bachelor's, master's and
doctorate degrees in zoology. His Ph.D. dissertation, written while attending
the University of Minnesota, focused on chipmunks. Richard and Orcilia Forbes
were married on June 2, 1960, in Albuquerque, N.M. The couple moved to
Portland, and Forbes joined the PSU biology faculty in 1964. Popular among
students and colleagues, Forbes received the PSU Alumni Association
Distinguished Faculty Service Award in 1997 and the John Eliot Allen Award for
Outstanding Teacher in Biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 2001.
Family, friends and colleagues say Forbes was also well-known and respected for
his work off campus. He was an active volunteer at the First Methodist Church
in Portland. A long-distance runner, he founded the Seaside Marathon. Forbes
also served on the board of directors for the Washington Park Zoo and the
Audubon Society of Portland. In addition, Forbes shared his time and expertise
with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Mt. Hood and Portland
community colleges, Oregon Historical Society, Tryon Creek State Park and
Portland Public Schools. His writing has appeared in scientific and popular
publications, including a regular column in Audubon's "Urban Naturalist"
newsletter. Forbes' photography has been widely published, including in t
North America." "He was clearly concerned about conservation issues, and I
think his greatest contribution to the conservation cause is having touched so
many students who are now working for nonprofits or government agencies who got
tremendous training from Dick," said Mike Houck, urban naturalist at Audubon
who met Forbes when Houck was a graduate student in 1970. Forbes' survivors
include his wife; daughter Eryn; son Bryan, and a granddaughter. A public
celebration of Richard Forbes' life will take place from 3:30 to 6 p.m. July 29
inside Hoffmann Hall on the PSU campus. It would have been Forbes' 66th
birthday. You can reach Michelle Cole at 503-294-5143 or by e-mail at
michellecole@news.oregonian.com.

I attended Dr. Forbes' memorial yesterday at Hoffman Hall at PSU. About 400 people were there and they showed a digital slide show and talked about all the wonderful and crazy things he had done, like catching rattlesnakes barehanded, pulling badgers out of their dens by their tails, dissecting whales that had been dead for several days (weeks?) on top of Science Building 2 and having the folks at Ione Plaza complain about it, and the dissection that can only be summed up in three words: maggots & snow shovel. The strange part was that one felt bad for cursing in front of him, yet he was an intense competitor; I never expected the two traits in one person.

I think it's best said that while Dr. Forbes had only two children by blood, he essentially had hundreds of biological stepchildren. Dr. Forbes, you will be missed.

This is a rough cut at a layout and I will be adding pictures at some point, but it might not happen for a couple of days.

I would be kicking myself if I failed to mention something about Dr. Forbes on the first day of biohabit.com being something beyond an index.html file saying variations of "Really, I'm working on this". Dr. Forbes was a very popular biology professor at Portland State University who taught most everything from mammalogy, ornithology, and the fanua of Antarctica.
He was very active in conservation, won the Teacher of the Year award at PSU and was widely known for reassuring nervous students by repeating the same four words: "You're doing just fine." He said it so often that one of his students engraved it on a wooden sign that Dr. Forbes had on display during midterms and finals.

I only had a few courses with Dr. Forbes: Ornithology, Mammalogy and an internship working on the insect collection at PSU , but I was more or less his personal computer geek. I continued to talk/email with him after I graduated. I basically learned 80% of what I know about birding from Dr. Forbes while sitting next to him on the trips to the Malheur Wildlife refuge. I had wished to have biohabit.com up and running to show him. I guess I was coming from the context of 'someday' with biohabit.com. Someday ended last Sunday over breakfast at Bread and Ink when I came across Dr. Forbes' obiturary in the Oregonian. Beyond the feelings of losing a friend, I feel like everyone in conservation needs to step up and fill some rather large shoes.

There will be a public celebration of Richard Forbes' life from 3:30 to 6 p.m., July 29 inside Hoffmann Hall on the PSU campus. What follows is the full text of his obituary in the Oregonian on July 21st.