One of many simple and eloquent comments in memory of a just-retired University of Wisconsin zoology professor who died in a bicycle accident. Article and comments evoke an exceptionally kind and committed scholar.
Really, a genuine and encouraging man.
“The Stanley I Dodson Rocky Mountain High” was what we called in his honor climbing a mountain and doing a headstand at the top. I’m comforted by the fact he’d find it fitting he died this way, doing what he liked in the place where he grew up and loved.
He was the real deal. Always one of those professors who had time for his students.
He didn’t make a big deal of himself. He preferred the essential things and he loved the outdoors and being with family and friends.
I remember one assignment where he had us calculate the proportion of passers-by wearing Earth Shoes (to teach us population sampling techniques).
Stanley was our neighbor. He loved his cat. He made his yard into a garden paradise with a stone wall and many native plants. He was always a kind soul.
He loved the out of doors and the simple pleasures of working around his house and yard, biking and living in harmony with nature.
I too studied Ecology with Dr. Dodson at the UW [Summer of 1985]. What an exciting class! A great professor. Assigned readings included Aldo Leopold’s magnificent “Sand County Almanac”. Additionally, each student chose a site collecting phenological data for periodic reports. I loved the guy!