Plenary Speakers
Dr. Dee Boersma is a Professor and Acting Wadsworth Endowed Chair in the Conservation Science in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington. Her academic research is in the area of conservation biology and has focused on seabirds as indicators of environmental change. Since 1982, she has directed the Magellanic Penguin Project in Argentina and has studied several species of penguins including one of the rarest and most northerly species, the Galapagos penguin. Her research with the Magellanic Penguin Project includes assessment of the penguins’ biological characteristics and the effects of human perturbations and policy changes on their survival. She has also taken on numerous national and international leadership and advisory positions in such roles as advisor to the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations World Population Conference in Romania and as a member of President Nixon’s Task Force of Women’s Rights and Responsibilities.
Dr. Helen James is the Museum Specialist in the Department of Vertebrate Zoology - Birds Division of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Her current research interests include the causes of ecological collapse following human settlement of islands, evolution of morphological diversity in the perching birds and waterfowl, and adaptive radiation of the Hawaiian finches. With over 20 years of paleontological field experience, Dr. James’ work has produced two monographs describing 32 extinct species of fossil birds from the Hawaiian Islands. She is continuing her work with ground-breaking research into the “ancient DNA” of these species.
Mr. Rauzon specializes in marine ornithology and vertebrate predator control. Formerly with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, he has studied sea birds and endangered marine mammals in Hawai’i, Alaska, and California. He is also an expert in the effects of invasive animals and plants on tropical islands. He has extensive experience in restoration programs removing rats and cats from atolls and enhancing populations of threatened birds for which he was given the Special Achievement Award in 2006 from the Pacific Seabird Group. His management planning experience includes the master plans for several wildlife refuges for the US Navy and the US Fish and Wildlife Service and restoration programs for US Marine Corps. He is the award-winning author of Isles of Refuge-History and Wildlife of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, as well as 20 nonfiction books for children. He now teaches geography at Laney College, Oakland, CA.
Dr. J. Michael Scott is currently a professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources at the University of Idaho, a research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, and a leader with the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Over his career, he has acted as Director for the National Gap Analysis Program, Director for the Condor Research Center in California, as a Research Biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and as a Research Biologist for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. His current research involves the examination of the distribution, abundance, and limiting factors on endangered species including multiple species of Hawaiian birds; reserve identification, selection, and design in North America; the use of translocation as a tool for establishing or augmenting animal populations; predicting wildlife species distribution; issues of scale and accuracy; and estimating bird abundance.
Dr. Emilyn Sheffield is the Chair of the Department of Recreation Administration at California State University, the largest undergraduate recreation department in the West. She is a human demographer and has worked for more than 20 years with federal, state and local groups to increase support for public lands, coordinating destination development projects involving scenic byways, heritage tourism infrastructure, and visitor services. She is a member of an interdisciplinary team that works to increase the visibility of public lands, and has authored numerous articles/reports about tourism, cooperative marketing, entrepreneurship, and public lands.
Dr. David Wilcove is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and public affairs at Princeton University. Prior to joining the faculty of Princeton University, he was senior ecologist at the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, DC, where he developed science-based strategies to protect endangered species. He is author of The Condor’s Shadow: The Loss and Recovery of Wildlife in America (1999), as well as numerous technical and popular articles in the fields of conservation biology, ornithology, and endangered species protection. He has served on the boards of directors of the Society for Conservation Biology, RARE Center for Tropical Conservation, American Bird Conservancy, and Natural Areas Association, as well as the editorial boards of Conservation Biology, Ecological Applications, and New England Naturalist. In 2001, Professor Wilcove received the Distinguished Service Award for the Society for Conservation Biology in recognition of his work on behalf of endangered species. In 1990, he was one of ten scientists awarded a Pew Scholarship in Conservation and the Environment. He previously worked for The Wilderness Society and The Nature Conservancy. He received a Ph.D. in biology from Princeton University (1985) and a B.S. from Yale University (1980).