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 Isabel grew up in the Flint community in East Texas and graduated from Tyler Jr. College. She received her BA in sociology from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Masters in Library Science at Texas Woman’s University.
Walt is a native of Dallas, Texas and a graduate of Tyler Jr. College. He received his BA in Zoology from the University of Texas and his Masters in Wildlife Science from Texas A&M University. His thesis described the food habits of the Great-tailed grackle and was published in AUK.
Walt and Isabel met in biology lab at TJC and married three years later. Walt spent the next 28 years at the Dallas Museum of Natural History (now the Museum of Nature and Science). He did field work, collected specimens for the collection, designed and built exhibits, and planned and led field trips to many locations in Texas. He was Assistant Director for Long-Range Planning and was instrumental in getting the Ramses the Great exhibit to come to Dallas in 1989. He served as Project Director for the exhibit. In 1992 he became the Director of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. He retired in 2004.
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Dallas Museum of Natural History |
Isabel spent time in School libraries in Dallas, was Director of the Rockwall County Public Library and a Reference and Public Service Librarian at the Richardson Public Library. She retired in 2003 as Reference Librarian from the Cornette Library at West Texas A&M University.
Walt was a birder and naturalist from a young age and introduced Isabel to birding in 1962. They spent numerous weekends and vacations camping and exploring with their two sons, John and Lee. They now enjoy spending time outdoors with their three grandchildren. They have long had an interest in landscaping with native plants. Their Canyon home was featured in the book, Native Texas Gardens by Sally and Andy Wasowski published in 1997. Their current home near Commerce, Texas is nestled on four acres of post oak woodland approximately one mile from the South Sulphur River.
After retirement they began a project to explore the entire 4000 mile boundary of the state of Texas. They followed in the footsteps of early explorers, botanists, ornithologists, cartographers, paleontologists, archeologists, and naturalists and recorded their experience. The result will be a book published in February 2010 by Texas A&M University Press entitled Exploring the Edges of Texas.
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