Dr. Erwin E. Klaas

Erv retired in 1999 as a wildlife biologist with the Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey after 30 years of service. Erv grew up on a bottomland farm along the Mississippi River in eastern Missouri. He received his B.S. Degree from the University of Missouri in Wildlife Conservation (1956), and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Zoology from Kansas University (1963, 1970). He was a member of the biology faculty at Rockhurst College in Kansas City before joining the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a wildlife research biologist in 1971. His research included studies on the effects of organochlorine insecticides on bird reproduction, behavior and population dynamics of waterfowl and wild turkeys, and restoration and management of wetlands and prairies. He served as Assistant Leader (1975-1992) and Leader (1992-1999) of the Iowa Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at Iowa State University where he was also a graduate faculty collaborator in the College of Agriculture.

Erv lives in Ames with his wife, Janet, who is a reference librarian with the Ames Public Library. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Prairie Rivers of Iowa Resource and Development District, Chair of the Steering Committee for the Urban Resources and Borderland Alliance Network, member of the Executive Board of the Squaw Creek Watershed Council, and member of the 1000 Friends of Iowa Board of Directors. Erv started his second four-year term as a SWCD Commissioner in January 2005.

Dr. Erwin E. Klaas
1405 Grand Avenue
Ames, IA 50010
(515) 233-3327
eklaas@iastate.edu