The Everglades Handbook: Understanding the Ecosystem Hardcover - 2010 - 3rd Edition

Thomas E. Lodge, Ph.D., is a self-employed ecologist. He has led numerous environmental projects directly relating to the Everglades, including the development of methodology for evaluating the ecological function of historic Everglades wetlands. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Tropical Audubon Society and was an appointed member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Multi-Species Ecosystem Restoration Team, which assists in Everglades restoration strategies dealing with listed species. He has also been an invited faculty, teaching South Florida ecology at Florida International University, where the first and second editions of The Everglades Handbook have been used regularly as a course text since 1994.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Lodge has a B.A. with a major and departmental honors in zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University (1966) and a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Miami in Florida (1974). In graduate school, Dr. Lodge became fascinated with the Everglades, both academically and personally. In addition to publishing magazine articles on the Everglades, he wrote and directed an educational film (The Everglades Region, An Ecological Study, John Wiley and Sons, 1973), and published on the fishes of the region. After receiving his Ph.D., he became an environmental consultant, specializing in wetlands and aquatic ecosystems. From 1996 to 1998, he was director of the Kampong, a botanical garden and former home of Dr. David Fairchild. His personal interest in the region has outweighed his professional activities. For over 35 years he has been a regular observer and photographer of Everglades wildlife.