Short Biography:
Kelby Ouchley is a naturalist and managed National Wildlife Refuges for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 30 years. His first book, "Flora and Fauna of the Civil War: An Environmental Reference Guide," was published by LSU Press in 2010. A collection of his essays, "Bayou-Diversity: Nature and People in the Louisiana Bayou Country," was released by LSU Press in October 2011. His first novel, "Iron Branch: A Civil War Tale of a Woman In-Between," is now available in softback and e-book formats. Since 1995, Kelby has written and narrated a weekly conservation-related program for KEDM 90.3 FM, the public radio station that serves the Ark-La-Miss area. He has been awarded the Louisiana Governor's Conservationist of the Year Award. Kelby and his wife, Amy, live in the woods in Rocky Branch, Louisiana, in a cypress house surrounded by white oaks and black hickories.

Critical Description of Work:
For almost seventeen years I have written a weekly conservation-natural history program for public radio. My advertisement for that program states the goal is "to enhance your awareness, appreciation and enjoyment of the natural world." I hope that all of my writings meet those objectives plus one more: to stimulate folks to take action on behalf of the environment.