Robert Loftin

{{Short description|American environmentalist, ornithologist, and philosopher}} {{Infobox scientist | honorific_prefix = | name = Robert Loftin | honorific_suffix = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image =  | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Robert Wayne Loftin | birth_date = 1938 | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|08|13|1938}} | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | home_town = | other_names = | pronounce = | residence = | citizenship = | fields = Ornithology<br>Philosophy | workplaces = University of North Florida | patrons = | education = Oglethorpe University<br>Florida State University | alma_mater = | thesis_title = The Problem of Explanation in History | thesis_url =  | thesis_year = 1969 | doctoral_advisor = W. H. Werkmeister<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1969 |title=Doctoral Dissertations, 1969 |journal=The Review of Metaphysics |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=176–195|jstor=20125529 }}</ref> | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | influences = | influenced = | awards = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | signature =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = }} '''Robert Wayne Loftin''' (1938–1993) was an American environmentalist, ornithologist, and philosopher. He was a professor at the University of North Florida, where he founded the Sawmill Slough Conservation Club and designed the campus's nature trails.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/752597102 |title=In memoriam, Dr. Robert W. Loftin, 1938-1993. |date=1993 |last=Maraldo |first=John |type=DVD video |language=English |access-date=2018-11-16}}</ref> The trails on UNF's campus were subsequently renamed the Robert Loftin Nature Trails in his memory on August 31, 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tour.unf.edu/html/BLD_2013042532380.html |title=Robert Loftin Nature Trails |website=Virtual Campus Tour |publisher=University of North Florida |language=en |access-date=2018-11-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.unf.edu/~rbowman/trails.htm |title=Recognition of the UNF Nature Trails by the U.S. Department of Interior |website=University of North Florida |access-date=2018-11-16}}</ref>

Loftin received his B.A. in humanities from Oglethorpe University and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Florida State University. In 1988, he received the University of North Florida's Distinguished Professor Award.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=Fall 1989 |title=Loftin 1988 Distinguished Professor |url=https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1002&context=unf_soundings |magazine=Soundings |page=21 |access-date=2018-11-16}}</ref> He died of cancer on August 13, 1993, at the age of 54.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VcJvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PR14 |title=Ethics on the Ark: Zoos, Animal Welfare, and Wildlife Conservation |editor1=Bryan G. Norton |editor2=Michael Hutchins |editor3=Elizabeth F. Stevens |editor4=Terry L. Maple |date=1996 |edition=Paperback |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |isbn=978-1-56098-689-8 |page=xiv |language=en}}</ref>

Brian G. Norton, Michael Hutchins, Elizabeth F. Stevens, and Terry L. Maple dedicated the edited volume entitled, ''Ethics on the Ark: Zoos, Animal Welfare, and Wildlife Conservation'' (1995), published by Smithsonian Institution Press, to the memory of Robert W. Loftin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ethics on the Ark: Zoos, Animal Welfare, and Wildlife Conservation |editor1=Bryan G. Norton |editor2=Michael Hutchins |editor3=Elizabeth F. Stevens |editor4=Terry L. Maple |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|year=1995|isbn=978-1-56098-689-8 |location=Washington, D.C.|page=v}}</ref> In his own posthumous article in this volume, entitled, "Captive Breeding of Endangered Species," Loftin concluded that, "animals should be taken out of the wild for captive breeding programs only if there is no alternative to extinction"; otherwise, "the priorities should be on maintaining the species intact in the wild and correcting the causes of endangerment in the first place."<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Captive Breeding of Endangered Species |title=Ethics on the Ark: Zoos, Animal Welfare, and Wildlife Conservation |url=https://archive.org/details/ethicsonarkzooaq00nort_302 |url-access=limited |last=Loftin |first=Robert |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |year=1995|isbn=978-1-56098-689-8 |editor-last=Norton|editor-first=Bryan G. |display-editors=etal |location=Washington, D.C.|page=[https://archive.org/details/ethicsonarkzooaq00nort_302/page/n205 179]}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{Cite book |url=https://preserve.unf.edu/files/pdf/Fight_on!_30.pdf|title=Fight On! A Thirty-Year History of the Sawmill Slough Conservation Club |last1=Woodward |first1=Michael W. |last2=Wiggins |first2=Erin B. |year=2003}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loftin, Robert Wayne}} Category:1938 births Category:1993 deaths Category:20th-century American philosophers Category:20th-century American zoologists Category:University of North Florida faculty Category:Oglethorpe University alumni Category:Florida State University alumni Category:American ornithologists Category:American environmentalists Category:Deaths from cancer in the United States

Robert Loftin

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