Passport to Texas

Dr. Bobby Gene Whiteside

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This is Passport to Texas

Dr. Bobby Gene Whiteside taught at Texas State University for 33 years; for 18 years he directed the aquatic biology program there. He calls himself an outdoor oriented country boy.

My family, and then my teaching and then bass fishing was sort of the order of things.

Dr. Whiteside is the first academic inducted into the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center Hall of Fame, which honors individuals and organizations for their contributions to freshwater fishing in Texas. A longtime member of the Canyon Bass Club, fellow club member, Carl Adkins, says to know Whiteside is to learn from him.

He basically teaches fishing and how to fish just like he taught species and all the other things when he was actually teaching in the University. Anybody that meets him or is around him very long picks up knowledge from him.

Roy Klein-laster, a retired aquatic biologist from Texas Parks and Wildlife, gives this professor high marks.

Educators can really be judged by the network they create. He has had students go into academia, he’s had them work for different conservation agencies, water quality agencies, Parks and Wildlife, EPA.

Dr. Bobby Gene Whiteside is in the spotlight next week on the Texas Parks and Wildlifeseries on PBS. Check your local listings.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.