In 1941, aviator and biological explorer Richard Archbold acquired the Red Hill Estate as a gift from John A Roebling II and, during World War II, began putting into practice his plan for a biological field station in Florida in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History. By the end of the war, he had fully committed himself to Archbold Biological Station and remained on site as its full-time resident and active leader for the next 35 years. Under his direction, the station developed a tradition of scientific excellence: in October 1944, station botanist Leonard Brass published an article in Science inviting researchers from around the world, thousands of specimens of plants, insects, birds, and mammals were collected there, including several new species, and many long-term studies began on Florida Scrub-Jays, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, oaks, and palmettos, with several continuing to the present as models for similar work worldwide. The station also advanced conservation and stewardship as scientific data overturned earlier assumptions that fire only damaged natural areas; after beginning systematic fire mapping in 1967, the station showed fire to be vital for scrub species and crucial to land stewardship, and in 1973 Archbold purchased 2,773 acres of adjacent land that added important scrub habitat and had burned frequently, unlike the estate's original 1,058 acres. Throughout this period, Archbold personally kept daily weather records, continuing a practice begun in 1931 by Roebling's engineer Alexander Blair. He also served the wider community, championing electric power for rural Florida, becoming president of the Glades Electrical Cooperative by 1947 and continuing as president or vice president of its board for the rest of his life, while also serving local civic and museum organizations. In 1976, while hospitalized with terminal cancer in Palm Beach County, he typed a new will to ensure that the land, buildings, and his personal fortune would be dedicated to the station, and his sister Frances Archbold Hufty agreed to serve as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Archbold Expeditions, securing the institution's future. The station's later scientific leadership and associated research included James Layne's long-term research vision from 1967, Thomas Eisner's pioneering work in chemical ecology, Ernst Mayr's use of the station's library while writing several books, Warren Abrahamson's studies of oaks and palmettos, and Lincoln Brower and Jane Van Zandt's groundbreaking butterfly biomimicry research.