Mary Hufty Local Hero Award

In 2015, John Norton was recognized for building support for the Rocky Mountain Biological Lab within the larger community. He was instrumental in RMBL completing a $10 million campaign, integrating RMBL into the public transportation system, and generating broad public support for the field station. John began his business career with Procter & Gamble, where he focused on sales and marketing during a time of great expansion for that company. From there, he joined Majers/Dun & Bradstreet, at that time the world’s largest marketing consulting firm. He was the team leader at Anheuser‐Busch, Ralston Purina, PepsiCo, and helped drive product growth at those industry giants. He then entered the ski industry, where he was COO at Aspen Skiing Company and CEO at Crested Butte.

In 2014, Mary Hufty was recognized with our first Local Hero award.It is perfectly apropos that the Local Hero Award given by the Organization of Biological Field Stations OBFS is named in honor of Mary Hufty. The namesake movie Local Hero is one that she and all of us relate to—the sense of place, a slower‐pace of life, eccentric residents, quaint atmosphere, scenery that takes your breath away, and conflicts that may spell the end of tranquility. Mary Page Hufty, niece of biological explorer Richard Archbold, the founder of Archbold Biological Station in Florida, has been an active member and stalwart supporter of OBFS since 1995, and our historian for many years. As a graduate of Stanford and a family physician in Palo Alto, California since the 1970s, her successful career has been in family medicine, but her natural history and field station roots run deep. Mary epitomizes her family’s tradition of devoted support for biological research, education, and conservation, serving continuously on Archbold’s Board of Trustees since 1976 and as Chairman of the Board since 2010. Neighbor to Stanford University Jasper Ridge Biological Station she has served as a docent since 1988, and played a role on the Stanford Red Barn Equestrian Program Board and Woodside Trail Club Board. Mary has been a donor and supporter of Archbold Biological Station, Jasper Ridge, and the OBFS. Together with husband Daniel Alegría, she instills enduring responsibility for field stations in the next generation including sons Dylan and Loren, nieces and nephews, and numerous other kin. When Mary Hufty started coming to OBFS annual meetings in 1996, she discovered her army of kindred spirits. Since then she has attended, with gusto and unwavering bravado, all but three of our annual meetings. She has become our guardian storyteller. She knows that something magical is going on, even if that magic isn't easily explained. OBFS would not be the same without Mary, and her support for us is a love poem to all field stations.