Al Parker

Al Parker is an Indiana born naturalist who started on his fascination with wildflowers, hawks, and trees at a young age. He got his first falconry license at age 15 and attended Purdue University to study wildlife. As part of his education, Al became a Co-op student and worked with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish & Wildlife. After graduation, he spent a summer at the National Wildlife Federation's Ranger Rick Wildlife Camp. There he met his wife, Amy. Returning to Indiana, he continued with the department and became the Indiana's first non-game wildlife technician. Most of his time there was spent in private landowner barns in search of the endangered barn owl. A year away from the DNR saw him at work at Lutheran Memorial Camp in Ohio doing environmental education and there he married his wife. But Indiana called him home to re-introduce bald eagles in 1985.

Eagles and owls led to peregrine hacking. When the eagles began making their comeback, Al was also on hand to climb nests for banding. Winter aerial surveys for eagles occupied him during the cold season. But when the eagle program had completed its run and eagles were doing so well that they were being de-listed, he moved on to a raptor education facility known as the Raptor Chapter. When a job with an endangered wildlife breeding facility at the Wilds opened up, Al continued teaching about wildlife conservation there. On this 10,000 acre, Southeastern Ohio property he was asked to hack ospreys.

Since 2008, Al and his family have run Canoe Creation, a river exploration and camping program that continues to this day. In 2012, he began as an adjunct and then associate professor with Zane State College. While on the college scene, he also completed his Masters degree at Green Mountain College with a study of the barn owls of the strip mine areas. As life-time falconer, Al has had his hands on raptors for most of his life. Those many years have given him a long term view of the recovery of many types of birds of prey. He continues to teach at Zane State and teaches his students about wildlife conservation through an on-going barn owl project there. A Hope for Wings is his first book. It was born out of a life-long love and a life of working with hawks, owls, and eagles. He hopes also that there will be many more books on the wonders of creation in his future.