Barry Wakeman

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Barry Noble Wakeman (1939-September 21, 2004) was an American naturalist and educator.

Born in Glenridge, New Jersey, he became interested in nature as a child, having explored the woods near his home. He received a B.S. in biology from Colgate University and a M.S. in botany from Indiana University. He served in the Peace Corps in Uganda.

After working as a curator at the Oklahoma City Zoo he came to the Cincinnati Zoo in 1968. That year he was part of an expedition to Antarctica, where he visited the South Pole and brought penguins to Cincinnati. At the Cincinnati Zoo he worked to teach children about nature, establishing the Junior Zoologist Club for twelve-to-sixteen year olds in 1968. This became a model for other zoos. He became the Cincinnati Zoo's director of education in 1974 and retired in 1995. But after leaving the zoo he was still busy, serving as director of the Nature Academy, another program for young people, and at the (Highlands Nature Santuary) in Bainbridge, Ohio.

Barry also taught (ILR) classes at the University of Cincinnati during his retirement, and shared his insights, writing and reading list with a circle of friends and students who met with him weekly at St. John's Unitarian Universalist Church, in Clifton, Cincinnati, Ohio. Barry continued teaching in that weekly meeting until just a few weeks before his passing.

Barry has four children;Barry, Amy Hunter and Brooke. He has three grandchildren;Gabriel, Morgan, and Orion.

He died at his home in Pierce Township, Clermont County, Ohio.