Environmental Law Institute - National Wetlands Awards

Mr. Brunswig grew up playing and exploring in marshes and streams at the edge of Rock Island, Illinois, and at the age of 16 decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life in the field as a wildlife biologist. He has realized this goal during his more than 30-year career with National Audubon Society.

Mr. Brunswig graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor of science degree in wildlife management and obtained a master of science degree in forestry and wildlife biology from the University of Georgia. After a stint as a high school biology teacher, Mr. Brunswig became the first manager of the Francis Beidler Forest Sanctuary in South Carolina’s Four Holes Swamp, where he currently serves as sanctuary director. He has used innovative techniques and formed local and regional partnerships to expand the sanctuary, which contains one of the last virgin stands of cypress-tupelo swamp forest in the country, from 3,400 acres in 1969 to its present size of more than 12,000 acres. His work has permanently protected a large (and expanding) tract of prime habitat-the American Bird Conservancy considers the forest a “bird area of global significance” and it is a U.S. National Natural Landmark-in an area that is experiencing rapid urban expansion. Formerly the National Audubon Society’s director of sanctuaries for the east coast, he currently is a vice-president of the National Audubon Society and executive director of Audubon South Carolina.

Mr. Brunswig “cannot imagine not working for Audubon.” He is married to an artist and they have two daughters. In his spare time, he enjoys getting up at five o’clock on freezing-cold mornings, putting on camouflage, sitting in a boat on a river and looking at the sky, waiting for pretty ducks to come flying by.

— Daniel Tufford, University of South Carolina Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia, South Carolina