Archives
Obituaries
Bruce Kershner, staff member and naturalist
Bruce S. Kershner, a former UB staff member and devoted naturalist who delighted many with his environmental books and nature guides, died Feb. 16 at the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care in Cheektowaga. He was 56.
Kershner worked at UB from 1983-87 as editor of Buffalo Physician, the alumni magazine of the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He also was medical editor for the UB News Bureau, earning both a gold and a silver medal for his writing from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. After leaving his UB staff position, he continued as an adjunct faculty member until 1992.
While at UB, Kershner began his research on his first major book, "Secret Places," a guide to little-known scenic treasures in Western New York, published in 1994 and still stocked in area bookstores.
"Not only was he utterly knowledgeable and passionate about the environment, but he was just a joy to be around," said Alan J. Kegler, associate director of UB's Office of Creative Services. "His enthusiasm for life was absolutely contagious. I'll never forget the survival class that he taught through UB's Rachel Carson College. I participated in that class, which ended up being a precursor to his "Secret Places" book and his work in protecting and establishing the Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area and the old growth forests."
After leaving UB, Kershner worked as senior environmental scientist and researcher at Great Lakes United and taught science at John F. Kennedy High School in Sloan.
Throughout these various careers, Kershner kept up with his extensive environmental writings, producing a total of 12 books. In 2004, Sierra Club Books published "The Sierra Club Guide to Ancient Forests of the Northeast," which Kershner wrote with coauthor Robert T. Leverett. This was his first book with a national focus and it displayed his scholarship on, and deep love of, America's old growth forests. His other books include "Secret Places of Staten Island" and "Buffalo's Backyard Wilderness: An Ecological Study of the Dr. Victor Reinstein Woods State Nature Preserve."
Kershner was a board member and conservation chair of the Buffalo Audubon Society, vice president and founder of the New York Growth Forest Association, chair and founder of the Western New York Old Growth Forest Survey and chair of the Friends of Allegany and of the Friends of Zoar Valley.
Survivors include his wife, Helene, assistant chair and lecturer in the UB Department of Computer Science and Engineering.