Walking into the den of a mother bear while she is hibernating is not an adventure many people undertake, but Dr. Hal Black does it a few times a year.

Now retired, but still teaching part time at BYU, Black has not only dealt with many bears, but thousands of students. The influence he has had on students and the continuation of their education is what Black said he feels is his greatest accomplishment.

Among other classes, Black taught appreciation of nature, a class once required for elementary education majors. Black taught 150 to 200 soon-to-be elementary school teachers per year and over a period of 20 years, he figures he taught about 1,500 elementary education majors. Black said it is rewarding to know they are using the information from their appreciation of nature class in their own classrooms.

"The idea that some of the things I shared with them that turned them on is exciting because they pass that on," Black said.

A recent email from a former student reaffirms Black's accomplishments. Entitled "Much appreciation for appreciation of nature," elementary education major, Victoria Adams, thanked Black for the influence he had in her life and how she plans to apply the things she has learned to her life and in the classroom where she teaches.

"Not only was this class a reminder of something I loved so dearly, but it was a positive outlook on how I could incorporate that love of animals into my own future classroom," Adams wrote in the email.

Black's own love of animals has taken him into some interesting situations.

His wife, Dianna, whom he married two days after her graduation from high school, has been by Black's side for 47 years, including on some bear study trips.

"In one bear denning trip, I got a little nervous because they couldn't get the bear anesthetized," Dianna Black said. "My husband said, 'Give me a syringe and I'll stick her in the neck,' and he did."

Dr. Black said the only accidents they have had on the bear trips have been with the equipment and hiking conditions. Those statistics are pretty good, Black said, since he has trapped around 400 black bears and monitored many mother bears and their cubs for about 20 years.

Much of Black's research has been to show a relationship between a mother bear's fertility with available food supply.

"When they don't have cubs, we correlate it with the food conditions," Black said. "If they don't fatten up in the fall, they won't have babies."

Black started the program because of long-term funding. He has been able to follow some bears and their cubs for two or three generations. Two of the bears Black will see this March, he has monitored since 1991.

"They're still with us and still having babies," he said.

Black has studied other animals, including birds, bats and bugs, all of which provide some interesting experiences.

His wife recalled a time when they lived in Africa and in one night processed more than 400 bats and had a large python cross their paths.

The Black's love of life is also demonstrated outside of work. They are raising a cow and pigs with a neighbor and Dr. Black said he enjoys hunting with two of his children.

They also said they enjoy gardening and canning.

"He's a farmer at heart," his wife said. "He loves gardens and growing things."

Living on two rural acres, their large garden provides opportunities for service.

"We intentionally raise more than we need so we can share with neighbors and family," Dr. Black said. "We're trying to get into heaven by doing good deeds. It's not just the garden, it's what the garden yields. Sometimes we can sit down at our house to a meal that's entirely of our own making. It is kind of comforting to know where the stuff came from and that you had a hand in producing it."



Copyright Brigham Young University 2 Dec 2008