Fleharty, Eugene D. 2005-10-13

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Eugene Fleharty shares his early experiences on the farm and his interests in chemistry and biology. Also he talks about working as a biologist and about his colleagues. Lastly he discusses the trend in modern biological science and his opinion on field biology.


General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Eugene D. Fleharty

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: October 13, 2005

Location:

Interviewer: David Marshall

Length: 02:06:00


Abstract

Biographical background information; Born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania; October 16, 1934; Father was a chemistry teacher; Moved to Hastings, Nebraska at the age of 3; Family purchased a farm by the river; Had two old brothers; Childhood life in the farm; Expectations from parents; Primary interest in sports; Starting college; First interest in business; Excelled in math until he hit differential equations; Exposure to psychology; Started taking biology courses; Father died from cancer; Got the college degree in four years in two majors; Got married between junior and senior year; Graduate school; Applied for three graduate schools; Reasons to apply for University of New Mexico; Got accepted and received assistantship at UNM; Wife from Nelson, Nebraska; Arrival at Albuquerque, NM; Performance in the course of graduate program; Dr. Jim Finley; Field work in the summer; Observance of diversity of animal life; Wife’s occupation; Wife’s name is Joan; Landscape of New Mexico; Reunion with old friends back in Nebraska; His friend, Clyde Jones; Went to physical therapy school; Clyde came down to New Mexico; Trips to Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad; Both got hired as field assistants; Capturing chipmunks; Field trip in New Mexico; Research on bats; Interests in doctoral research; Reason to focus on snake research; Courses taken with Jim; Had the first child during master’s study; Found a job in the summer time; Foreign language courses; Special treatment of Spanish language; Five thousand dollars in 1960s; Worked in academia; Situation of the coaching staff of the football team; Lincoln, Nebraska; Helped coach football and made extra money; Biology Department of University of Nebraska; Job offer in 1972; Financial support and recruiting graduate students; Several outstanding graduate students; Tendency of sending students to Ph.D. program; Field work with graduate students; Botanical collection; Mammalogy teaching; Human ecology research; Taught human ecology in University of Kansas; Manner of thinking in biology; Question of why and how; Disagreement with Nature Conservancy; Bison and other native American animals; Further family information; Historical sites in Hasting; Uncle’s effort to put family history together; Had five brothers; Required to recognize Japanese, German and American airplanes; Father’s lifestyle as a teacher; Highly respect as high school teacher; Thoughts on teaching different group of students; Difference in teaching school in Pennsylvania and Nebraska; Geneva College’s Quaker affiliation; No preference for undergraduate and graduate; Self-identification; Got to know more about the background information of the students; Hastings athletics; Lost an eye; Could not play basketball and football; Played four years in college; Clyde’s knee problem; Undefeated in 1954; Quarterback Chuck “Spider”; Track and high jumping; Tried out in Abilene, Texas; Worked as scorekeeper; Carving experience; Inspired by wildlife painting in Kansas City in 1982; Wife’s advice of “you won’t know until you try”; Sold several carving works in the garage; Carved 700 sculptures over the years; Website of the business; Experience of hunting and fishing; Interests in outdoor activities; Multiple reasons for carving; Hunting and fishing with father-in-law; Price for the decoys; Wife’s duty at home; Other individuals David interviewed; Michael Bogan and Tony Mollhagen; Philosophical discussion with Tony; Tony’s interest in field biology; Camping trip with Tony; Mike’s personal characters; Academic performance of Mike; General changes during the period of work; Worked from 1962 to 1999; Techniques of working; Less interest in field biology of the biology department; Personal opinion on the development of biology; Best years of the school’s academic performance; Change of mentality of the students; Idealism during Vietnam War; Trend in biological studies; Mass media’s influence on biology; Urbanization’s negative effect on student interests in field biology; Movement of field biology; Tendency of the smaller schools’ preference of field biology.


Access Information

Original Recording Format:

Recording Format Notes:

Transcript: No transcript available



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