Ralph E. Ramey Ohio Naturalist 5275 Parkmoor Drive Westerville OH  43082-8839 ralphramey@aol.com   614-794-9686

Ralph Ramey is the author of  50 Hikes in Ohio and 50 More Hikes in Ohio. 

In May 2007, Ramey released the third edition of 50 Hikes in Ohio, which contains day hikes and backpacking trips. The sequel to this title is 50 More Hikes in Ohio, which was released in 2002.

Ramey was born and raised in the East Columbus suburb of Bexley.  He developed his interest in all things natural at an early age, perhaps because of his many summers spent at YMCA Camp Willson and/or his long participation in scouting. He earned his Eagle Award at Camp Lazarus in the summer of 1944 and served many years as an adult Scout leader. He earned his B.S. in wildlife conservation from Ohio State University in 1950. Twenty-six years later, he earned an M.S. in Environmental Education from the same institution. At college, he played in the OSU Concert and Marching Bands and still plays in the TBDBITL Alumni Band.

After serving a two-year hitch in the Army during the Korean conflict during which he was an instructor at the Fourth Army Chemical Defense School in San Antonio, TX.  Out of the Army, he returned to central Ohio and went to work as a salesman for Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant.  In 1966, he turned to the field for which he had trained, joining the Ohio Division of Parks and Recreation and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources as Recreation Supervisor. In 1969, he moved to the staff of the Columbus and Franklin County Park District and in 1973, he moved his growing family to Yellow Springs where he became the Director of Antioch College's Glen Helen Nature Center.  He remained in that position until 1970 when he took the position of Directory-Secretary with the Miami County Park District. A year later, he returned to his hometown of Columbus to become Chief of ODNR's Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, the job he retired from in 1994.

Over the years, Ramey has been very active in many professional and non-profit environmental organizations and he has received numerous awards and honors. In 2004, the Ohio Biological Survey named him as their Naturalist of the Year and in the same year, he was honored by receiving regional and national awards as Outstanding Senior/Retired Interpreter of the year from the National Association for Interpretation. In October of 2006, he was inducted into ODNR's Ohio Natural Resources Hall of Fame.

A nature photographer since 1947, Mr. Ramey has used his photographs in giving more than 1500 slide-illustrated talks and in illustrating many newspaper and newsletter articles and three books about hiking in Ohio.  In the summer and fall of 2006, he spent revising his most popular book, 50 Hikes in Ohio, whereby at the age of 78 he spent seven weeks camping and hiking in all corners of the Buckeye state, with camera, binoculars, and tape recorder, which he used for preparing the text and illustrations for the third edition. The first edition of 50 Hikes in Ohio was released in 1989, with the second edition coming out in 1994.

Ralph and his wife Jean make their home in Delaware County's Genoa Township. The couple have two sons who live in Anchorage, AK, and Kent, WA, and a daughter was is deceased in 1975.

Mr. Ramey is available for lectures and book signings.

Terms:

1. For speaking engagements, the author requests reimbursement for travel expenses.

2. An honorarium is appreciated whenever possible.

3. Invitations to speak should be extended to the visiting author.