The man who brought five independent Illinois research surveys, all of which are at least 150 years old, together under the University’s Prairie Research Institute is officially stepping down as director. 

Dr. William Shilts campaigned for the addition of the Institute to the University and became its formal director when it joined the University in January 2008.

“I don’t think we would be in the University if it weren’t for Bill’s tenacity,” said Brian Anderson, interim executive director of the Prairie Research Institute. “Him getting us into the University was absolutely critical. I think Bill built this incredible foundation.”

The Prairie Research Institute is a globally renowned research facility that is second in size only to the U.S. Geological Survey, Anderson said. The long-term data sets from the surveys on Illinois’ water, plants, animal and geology is used by businesses, government agencies and the public for economic decisions, as well as the Institute’s actual research.

“The reason I came here from Canada is because the geological survey here in Illinois is known worldwide for its ability to use geology to solve societal problems,” Shilts said.

Shilts explained that he believes the Institute’s continuous growth and success comes from the strength of the collaboration between the different surveys. Those surveys are: the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, the Illinois State Geological Survey, the Illinois State Water Survey and the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.

Dean Thomas, who campaigned statewide alongside Shilts to join the University, was also head of the Natural History Survey before stepping down in 2008. Shilts said the Natural History Survey has the most intimate partnership with the University because it has the highest amount of students employed with the survey.

“The collaboration is a strength; there’s a sort of dynamic tension you might say,” Thomas said. “It’s almost a trick in how you merge within another organization but still maintain some identity that people recognize around the world.”

Anderson, who also serves as the director of the Illinois Natural History Survey, expressed his concern for the search for a new director because of the lack of middle-career scientists. He went on to say that Shilts stepping down proved that it is time for the Institute to prepare for the transition into the retirement of its many late-career researchers.

“The question, as we go forward, is how do we position the Institute to go through what is really a generational change,” Anderson said.

Shilts, Anderson and Thomas all agreed that the only future for the Institute is constant growth. Shilts added that the Institute is the only part of campus that hasn’t had its appropriations reduced. He said that in the 2013-2014 year, the Institute received about $16 million in state appropriations and generated about $83 million in expenditures. 

“We are involved in world-class research. I think it’s going to be a struggle as we look for an executive director who can bring those two pieces of the puzzle,” Anderson said. “The campus, the academic department and the surveys together to really address the big, important emerging science issues. That’s the kind of person we’re looking for.”

The new director will be chosen by a search committee out of the Vice Chancellor for Research’s office. Shilts plans on returning to Canada to research climate change’s impact on his previous work in the Arctic, where he has 30 years of research experience.

Tea can be reached at [email protected].