BIO
GLH holding an eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) at the Central Florida Zoo's Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation (photograph by Timothy J. Walsh)
Heinrich Ecological Services is based in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA and conducts wildlife surveys and research, natural history programming, and nature-based tours. The company is owned and operated by George L. Heinrich, a field biologist and environmental educator with a specialty in Florida reptiles. A graduate of Memphis State University, George’s interests include southeastern upland, riverine, and brackish wetland ecosystems, conservation challenges facing Florida’s non-marine turtles, and the role of education in conserving herpetofauna (amphibians and reptiles). Current collaborative research projects focus on three imperiled species: the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin), and Suwannee cooter (Pseudemys concinna suwanniensis). George is an invited member of the IUCN Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, served twice as co-chair of the Gopher Tortoise Council (an uplands conservation organization), and is the executive director of the Florida Turtle Conservation Trust.
George has taught ecology-based courses to students of all ages for over twenty years and is a popular instructor at secular homeschool co-ops in Pinellas County, Florida, where he has taught since 2008. He has also facilitated a series of engaging weeklong nature camps at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, Brooker Creek Preserve, and Weedon Island Preserve for over ten years. George has received a number of awards from state and regional NGOs for his conservation and environmental education work, including the Golden LEEF Award for Outstanding Contribution to Florida Environmental Education from the League of Environmental Educators in Florida.
GLH teaching participants about common musk turtles (Sternotherus odoratus) during a Brooker Creek Preserve Herpetology Camp (photograph by Deborah Theisen)