My name is Rob Huntley and I'm the General Manager of the Aquatic
Conservation Network.
"Fish" started with me at the age of 12 with my first aquarium as
a Christmas present. Typically, this led to one aquarium after
another and eventually this paved the way to a Bachelor of Science
degree in Marine Biology, and a Master of Science degree in
Agricultural Economics - with a thesis concerning rainbow trout
aquaculture in the Province of Ontario.
I have worked with the Fish Culture Section of the Ontario Ministry
of Natural Resources and with the Economic Policy Branch of the
Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada, focusing on aquaculture
and fish habitat issues.
In 1987, I assumed the duties of a stay-at-home parent, raising two
daughters up to school-age. I revived my hobby interests (which had
been put aside for education, travel and work), and I found time to
do a lot of thinking about conservation and the aquarium hobby. I
attempted to find and join an existing organization for amateur
aquarists in which they could make a meaningful contribution to
conservation. A wave of letter writing in 1989/90 revealed very
little in this regard.
After being prompted by Chris Andrews, Chair of the IUCN Freshwater
Fish Specialist Group, the opportunity came in 1991 to establish,
with co-founders Dennis Hough and Shawn Prescott, an organization
which attempts to combine the enthusiasm, resources and expertise
of serious amateur conservation aquarists, with the knowledge,
experience and profile of professional aquarists and researchers in
this field.
With the launching of the Aquatic Conservation Network, I immersed
myself into the subject somewhat deeper than I had anticipated -
originally just wanting to join, and be a small part of, an
existing effort. So .... even though my children no longer need Dad
at home, I now find myself in an ongoing role of administering the
day to day affairs of the ACN from my home-based office.
I look forward to this ACN-L discussion list being a useful
complement to the ACN's mission of fostering involvement by
interested individuals, aquarists, and scientists in the conserva-
tion of aquatic life.
My thanks go to Peter Unmack (springfish at mail.utexas.edu) for
volunteering to look after the management of this list.
... Rob
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Rob Huntley Internet: ag508 at freenet.carleton.ca
Aquatic Conservation Network OR rob at pinetree.org
540 Roosevelt Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2A 1Z8 CompuServe: 71022,3537
Tel: (613) 729-4670 Fax: (613) 729-5613
WWW URL - http://www.achilles.net/holiday/acn/acnhome.html
ACN is a Registered Charity - Canada (0953471-52); U.S.A. (EIN 98-0141397)
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