Fred Van Dyke is the Executive Director of Au Sable Institute. Prior to coming to Au Sable, he served as professor and chair of the Biology Department at Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, and the director of their Environmental Studies Program.

Fred received his Ph.D. in environmental and forest biology from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York-Syracuse. He has served as a wildlife biologist for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, a scientific and management consultant to the National Park Service, and an ex officio member of numerous interdisciplinary management teams of the U. S. Forest Service. His studies of wildlife ecology, plant ecology and fire ecology have been published in The Journal of Wildlife Management, The Wildlife Society Bulletin, Journal of Mammalogy, The American Biology Teacher, and in the books, The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: Redefining America's Wilderness Heritage (Yale University Press 1991) and The Complete Book of North American Mammals (Smithsonian Institute Press 1998). Fred is author of the widely and internationally used textbook, Conservation Biology: Foundations, Concepts, Applications (Springer 2008).

Fred has taught on numerous areas of environmental science as well as the intersection of the natural world with ethics, policy, and theology. Along with Au Sable’s Associate Director, Dr. David Mahan, he co-authored the book, Redeeming Creation: The Biblical Basis for Environmental Stewardship. His latest book, Between Heaven and Earth: Christian Perspectives on Environmental Protection was published in 2010.