{"id":1209,"date":"2025-03-04T17:23:49","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T22:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/?p=1209"},"modified":"2025-03-04T17:24:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T22:24:20","slug":"allan-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utia.tennessee.edu\/spotlights\/allan-houston\/","title":{"rendered":"Allan Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Research professor in the UT School of Natural Resources<\/a> drives decades of impactful work in natural resource management and conservation at the Ames AgResearch and Education Center<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Where are you from, and how did your career lead you to UTIA?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was raised in Brevard, North Carolina, a mountain town that provided just about everything needed to make a youngster love the out-of-doors. I attended my hometown\u2019s Brevard College to earn an associate\u2019s degree before transferring to North Carolina State University where I received two bachelor\u2019s degrees, one in forestry and another in wildlife management. I then attained a master\u2019s degree in forest management with a minor in wildlife biology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was hired at Ames AgResearch and Education Center in 1978 as a research assistant and brought my beautiful wife to West Tennessee, wondering all the time how a girl from a small Maryland town called Washington D.C. would adjust to country life. After being at the Ames Center for several years, I was surprised to discover I not only needed \u2013 but deeply wanted \u2013 a PhD. With support from UT and the Trustees of the Ames Foundation, I completed my PhD in ecology and attained assistant research professor status in 1991.<\/p>\n\n\n

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What is your role within UTIA, and what do you do on a typical day?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I work within something of a unique atmosphere. The Ames Center is more than 10,000 acres and is owned and operated by the Trustees of the Hobart Ames Foundation. In my position as a UT School of Natural Resources faculty member, I work closely within the objectives of the Foundation to identify natural resource issues and develop solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The notion of a \u201ctypical day\u201d brings a wry smile because there is no such thing as a typical day. However, a successful day for me is to be in the presence of those with expertise beyond my own, in disciplines outside my own, with experience deeper than my own, all of this focused on significant natural resource questions.<\/p>\n\n\n

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What is one of your favorite experiences you have had while working at the Ames AgResearch and Education Center?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n