J. Alan Clark speaks about his many years of research on Magellanic penguins in Argentina. In addition to introducing us to the natural history of these penguins, Clark reports on his primary research focus, penguin vocalizations. He discusses the different types of penguin calls and how penguins use these calls. For example, Alan has explored what a female penguin can tell about a male penguin, just by his voice. In addition, Alan discusses the threats facing penguins and penguin conservation.
Alan believes strongly in an interdisciplinary approach to academia and has undergraduate degrees in both Religion and Music Education. After his undergraduate training, Alan taught music in an Ozark Mountain public school system. He then spent several years performing nationally in theatre, opera, and musical comedy. Alan returned to school at the University of Michigan and obtained both an MS in Natural Resource Policy and a law degree. Following a six-month stint studying endangered species law and policy in New Zealand and Australia, Alan joined a major Northwest law firm and began a land conservation law practice. In addition, to his land conservation law practice, Alan has worked as a legal intern for both Environmental Defense and the National Wildlife Federation, as a research fellow for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and as a visiting legal research fellow at the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand.