Dr. Donald Sparling's career has been a mixture of college level teaching and government service. After receiving his Ph.D. in biology he taught wildlife management courses at Southern Illinois University and biology at Ball State University. In 1982 he started a career in the U.S. Department of the Interior, first as a statistician and then as a research wildlife biologist. There he conducted research on the effects of contaminants on wildlife with publications on acid deposition, munitions, pesticides, metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Animal models he and his students have used include amphibians, turtles, mallards, quail, doves, invertebrates and others. He left the government in 2004 to resume teaching various courses including Ecotoxicology and to continue research at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Although he retired from that position in 2015 he continues to teach online courses at Holy Apostles College and Seminary and to write books in the ecological sciences. Dr. Sparling has over 100 scientific publications and 6 books to his credit.