For half a century, George Archibald, co-founder of the International Crane Foundation, has dedicated his life to the welfare of one of the most threatened group of birds. Cranes—huge, beautiful, dancers with calls that carry for miles—have a unique charisma that defies words. George will share through pictures and sound how ICF, through cranes, has helped conserve vast expanses of habitats and brought nations together to save the tallest of birds whose annual migrations scale continents and the highest mountain ranges. In 1973, when cranes were in a perilous situation and many were on the brink of extinction, George Archibald and Cornell University colleague Ronald Sauey, Ph.D. established the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin as the world center for the study and preservation of cranes.
Born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada, George Archibald received his undergraduate degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1968 and completed his Ph.D. at Cornell University in 1977. In recognition of his many accomplishments, Archibald has received four honorary doctorates and many awards, including the Gold Medal from the World Wildlife Fund, a Fellows Award from the MacArthur Foundation, The Wildlife Conservation Medal from the Zoological Society of San Diego, the Lilly Medal presented by the Indianapolis Zoo, and the Douglas H. Pimlott Award from Nature Canada. In 2013, Archibald was awarded the Order of Canada on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II and received the inaugural Dan W. Lufkin Prize for Environmental Leadership from the National Audubon Society.