Highland Park native Scott Simon is one of the heroes behind the effort to save the ivory-billed woodpecker. A revealing profile demonstrates other species are being discovered too.

"A boy who played in Highland Park’s ravines now co-directs The Nature Conservancy of Arkansas efforts to save a species once thought to be extinct," writes reporter Kenneth Patchen in the Highland Park News.

At a presentation mid-week at Chicago’s Field Museum, Scott D. Simon, 38, and his associates noted the progress taking place with their ivory-billed woodpecker conservation work. Simon added: "This year we found three species that were not previously known to science." These include Pelton’s rose gentian (a new plant species), a new freshwater shrimp, and a new type of cave crayfish.

The search for and discovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker has opened many eyes to more finds to be made, and habitats that must be preserved.