Daniel C. Taylor (born June 26, 1945) is an American scholar and practitioner of

social change Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. Definition Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or socio ...

, with notable achievements in community-led conservation and global education. He also recognized as giving a definitive explanation for the century-old

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
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Wade Davis, Taylor's method was shown around Mount Everest in “the creation of a nature preserve, not administered by distant bureaucrats but protected by the people who dwelt within its boundaries. It was a bold idea, so novel that at every meeting Daniel was able to increase the size” until trans-border protection resulted for the entire

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

and central Himalayan region. Taylor is President of Future Generations Universit

which he founded. He has established twelve nonprofit organizations, ten still thrive, five are in the US. From 1993 to 2002, he was also a Senior Associate at

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is the public health graduate school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. As the second independent, degree-granting institution for research in epi ...

. He was knighted Suprabala-Gorkha-Dakshina-Bahu in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

in 1990, made the first Honorary Professor of Quantitative Ecology by the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

in 1995, and decorated with the

Order of the Golden Ark The Most Excellent Order of the Golden Ark ( nl, Orde van de Gouden Ark) is a Dutch order of merit established in 1971 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. It is awarded to people for major contributions to nature conservation. Although not ...

Prince Bernhard , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 2004.

Professional significance

Bill McKibben encapsulates his work, “The most interesting development expert I’ve ever met is a West Virginian named Daniel Taylor …. His mantra, based on a series of principles called SEED-SCALE, goes like this: Forget big plans. Development is not a product, not a target, not some happy future state … it’s a process, measured not in budgets but in how we invest our human energy.” His theoretical work on social change, SEED-SCALE, mentioned above by McKibben, was launched by then

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

Executive Director James P. Grant, resulted in a first major publication in 1995, a second in 2002, a third in 2012.), and a fourth in 2016 The basic concept is that ‘seeds’ of human success exist in every community, even those considered destitute, and from these seeds fitted to local culture, resources, and ecology can be ‘scaled up’ grown both a rising quality of life and also extension out toward equitable improvement for all. In education, Taylor explored experiential education during his twenty years leading The Mountain Institute. With Future Generations University an accredited master's degree was started now extending to 40 countries. In conservation, Taylor pioneered a method for

community-based conservation Community-based conservation is a conservation movement that emerged in the 1980s, in response to escalating protests and subsequent dialogue with local communities affected by international attempts to protect the biodiversity of the earth. These ...

that protects areas first by using political boundaries then within these environmental criteria to create management zones, a less costly, less confrontational approach within the

World Network of Biosphere Reserves The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) covers internationally designated protected areas, known as biosphere reserves, which are meant to demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature (e.g. encourage sustainable de ...

. In the US, his efforts integrated private land with public lands near

Spruce Knob Spruce Mountain, located in eastern West Virginia, is the highest ridge of the Allegheny Mountains. The whale-backed ridge extends for only from northeast to southwest, but several of its peaks exceed in elevation. The summit, Spruce Knob (4863 ...

the summit of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

. With the Green Long March in China, an environmental educational consortium was created with 50 Chinese universities. In the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

, his conservation initiatives include trans-border conservation between China and

with a seven million acre initiative around

in Nepal the ( Makalu-Barun National Park and adjoining in Tibet/China

Qomolangma national nature preserve The Qomolangma National Nature Preserve (QNNP), also known as the Chomolungma Nature Reserve (QNP), is a protected area 3.381 million hectares in size in the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. Located on the Roof of the ...

. In eastern

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of � ...

, he and co-worker Chun-Wuei Su Chien led in establishing the Lalu Wetlands National Nature Preserve in Lhasa, at 1,600 acres, now a region completely surrounded by the city of Lhasa. Additionally, he led in setting up a range of community conservation initiatives in

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...

, India. For the enigmatic maker of mysterious tracks in Himalayan snows, the

yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
''

Asiatic black bear The Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), also known as the Asiatic black bear, moon bear and white-chested bear, is a medium-sized bear species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an or ...

(Ursus thibetanus) which in its early life years spends time in trees and develops a “thumb-like” digit on its paw that then can make an overprint of hind paw onto front creating a human-looking, bipedal-like snowprint. In 2016, Taylor published an analysis of all Yeti literature, giving added evidence to the (Ursusthibetanus) explanation of Yeti legends. Importantly, this book from Oxford University gave a meticulous explanation for the iconic Yeti footprint photographed by Eric Shipton in 1950. To complete this explanation, Taylor also located a never-before published photograph of that print that included bear nailmarks. Additionally, Taylor has an interest in building innovative physical structures—a diversity of structures modifying the Mongolian

yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger ( Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia ...

, two homebuilt airplanes (

Varieze The Rutan VariEze is a composite, canard aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. It is a high-performance homebuilt aircraft, hundreds of which have been constructed. The design later evolved into the Long-EZ and other, larger cabin canard aircraft ...

and Defiant), super-insulated homes and offices, electrical wind generators, and restoration of historic structures from an 1845 gristmill in

to three monasteries in Tibet.

Organizations founded

* 1972, co-founded The Woodlands Institute (experiential education) that evolved into The Mountain Institute (mountain people and environments) * 1980, co-founded Pendleton Community Care (comprehensive U.S. rural primary health care) * 1989, founded the Tibetan KyiApso Club (to introduce an unusual large shaggy dog from the Tibetan Plateau). This organization has subsequently closed. * 1992–2012, launched the Future Generations family of nine autonomous but mutually supportive organizations worldwide whose shared purpose is to research, demonstrate, and teach how to mobilize social change. Future Generations USA/China/Arunachal/India/Peru/Afghanistan/Canada/Haiti/Graduate School * 2011, launched the University of the World, a to be accredited global university This organization has subsequently closed. * 2016, launched Experience Learning, an experiential education organization in Pendleton County with two campuses xperience-learning.org

Books published

* "Yeti: The Ecology of a Mystery" (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2017) * “Just and Lasting Change: When Communities Own Their Futures, 2nd Edition” (Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016) * “Mount Everest Guide to Off-road Driving”, (Franklin, WV: Forwards Press, 2014) * ''Empowerment on an Unstable Planet: From Seeds of Human Energy to a Scale of Global Change'', co-authors Carl E. Taylor, Jesse O. Taylor, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012) * ''CAIRNS: A Novel of Tibet'', (For Words Press: Franklin, WV, 2011) * ''Just and Lasting Change: When Communities Own Their Futures'', Carl E. Taylor co-author, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002) * ''Community Based Sustainable Human Development—Going to Scale with Self-reliant Social Development'', co-author Carl E. Taylor, (New York: UNICEF, 1995). * ''Something Hidden Behind the Ranges: An Himalayan Quest'', (San Francisco: Mercury House, 1995) * ''Population Education for Nepal'', co-author Hem Hamal (Chapel Hill, NC: Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina Press, 1973).

References

External links

Future Generations

Future Generations University

Official Website - Daniel C. Taylor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Daniel C. 1945 births Living people American conservationists Order of Gorkha Dakshina Bahu People from Pendleton County, West Virginia