AWC Professor Emeritus Dr. George Montopoli has spent his career working to make the world around him better. Montopoli spent 19 years on the faculty of AWC, and 13 years as adjunct professor with NAU-Yuma. He taught a wide range of subjects to thousands of students, including statistics, calculus, ecology and environmental science. In addition to his teaching load, he also drew on his statistical expertise and independently evaluated 36 grants in 30 years. His work in a wide variety of fields has been extensively published over the past 20 years.

Beyond higher education, Dr. Montopoli has championed protected lands, wildlife preservation, and health and human service education in the US and abroad. Averaging 40 rescues per summer, Montopoli has served as a climbing / rescue ranger since 1977 in the Grand Teton Park where he developed and led Emergency Response training with a Wilderness First Aid focus. Spending 4 years with the Peace Corps in Chile and Ecuador, he trained locals in Advanced First Aid, provided medical care, and assisted in 80 childbirths. As leading researcher on bald eagles in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for the better part of 30 years, his team has greatly contributed to the species’ recovery, including the banning of lead when hunting or fishing in Grand Teton National Park. Montopoli is also a Master Falconer and a principal avian rehabilitator of birds of prey in the SW region of Arizona.