This episode is primarily oriented to students, early professionals, and others considering wildlife careers. We explore the various career tracks in the wildlife profession with Quentin Hays, a wildlife biologist and professor who brings personal perspectives from his diverse work in agency, academic, and private sectors. 

Instead of delving into specific jobs, we explore how wildlife career tracks differ in the academic, non-profit, agency, and consulting/private sectors. We discuss pros and cons in each sector, and ways to prepare for each. 

To Support Northwest Nature Matter's please visit our Patreon Site here:

https://www.patreon.com/northwestnaturematters

A fascinating conversation with wildlife biologist Paul Henson about Endangered Species Act implementation. Paul is the State Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Oregon Office where, among other duties, he supervises a team of dedicated biologists who implement ESA recovery strategies across a spectrum of listed species. 

Paul discusses a new paradigm in ESA implementation that emphasized proactive conservation strategies for species like the Oregon Chub, California Condor and more. Enjoy!  

A link to a recent paper about ESA implementation co-authored by Paul: 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328277152_Improving_Implementation_of_the_Endangered_Species_Act_Finding_Common_Ground_Through_Common_Sense

To Support Northwest Nature Matter's please visit our Patreon Site here:

https://www.patreon.com/northwestnaturematters

Few issues are more important than the over-arching capacity to fund conservation now and into the future. In this episode we explore a key piece of funding legislation recently introduced to the Oregon State legislature, HB 2829, The Oregon Conservation and Recreation Fund. It's successful passage requires immediate support from Oregonians.

We explore the bill and surrounding issue with Representative Ken Helm, policy experts Mark Labhart and Jim Owens, and former ODFW biologist Claire Puchy. We discuss the important history leading up to this far-reaching issue, what the bill does, and how you can support its passage in the coming DAYS and WEEKS.  

For more information on this bill and email contacts of state Senators and Representatives:

https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/HB2829

Direct link to the Bill: 

https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2829

Recovering America's Wildlife Act: 

https://wildlife.org/policy/recovering-americas-wildlife-act/

Oregon Conservation Strategy:

http://www.oregonconservationstrategy.org/

A conversation with biologists Brian Bangs and Chris Allen about a pioneering success story recovering the once Endangered Oregon Chub. The Oregon Chub was de-listed in 2015 - the first fish ever removed from the federal Endangered Species Act list. 

Brian is a native fish biologist and Oregon Chub project lead for ODFW. Chris Allen is an endangered species biologist and recovery project leader with the USFWS in Oregon. 

Brian and Chris discuss various native freshwater fish species of conservation concern, the Oregon Chub project, and their trailblazing efforts to achieve de-listing.

For more information about the Oregon Chub:

https://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/articles.cfm?id=149489414

ODFW website for Oregon Chub:

https://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/species/chub.asp

An eye-opening conversation with Dr. Burke Hales and Dr. George Waldbusser about the effects of ocean acidification on ocean ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest.

Professors and research partners at Oregon State University, Burke and George definitively linked an increase in ocean acidification to the collapse of oyster seed production at a commercial oyster hatchery in Oregon.

We discussed the overarching science behind climate change, the chemistry behind atmospheric and ocean carbon and acidity, effects on marine organisms and their ecosystems, and more!

Links for listeners to explore this issue:

Global Carbon Project website:

https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/

NOAA Ocean Acidification Program:

https://oceanacidification.noaa.gov/

Link to some of George and Burke's papers:

http://oregonstate.academia.edu/GeorgeWaldbusser

Leland Brown with the Oregon Zoo, and Jim Akenson with the Oregon Hunter's Association discuss lead exposure in scavenging birds of prey, and how to increase hunter adoption of non-lead ammunition. 

Leland is a hunter, wildlife biologist, and the Non-lead Hunting Education Coordinator at the Oregon Zoo. Leland is a national leader in building outreach and education programs designed to increase hunter awareness of lead poisoning in wildlife and non-lead ammunition alternatives.

Jim Akenson is a hunter, wildlife biologist, and the Conservation Director for the Oregon Hunter's Association. Jim has a broad background in wildlife research and project management, including long-term carnivore research in the Frank Church Wilderness. 

Oregon Zoo's Non-lead page

https://www.oregonzoo.org/conserve/non-lead-hunting-education-program

North American Non Lead Partnership

https://www.facebook.com/North-American-Non-lead-Partnership-2254811284786107/

Video: Presentation of an Oregon field science project investigating lead exposure in scavenging Raptors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-ZeM2fdI2c

Hunting with Non Lead

http://www.huntingwithnonlead.org/

Peregrine Fund's Non-lead page

https://www.peregrinefund.org/non-lead-ammo

A fascinating conversation with Taal Levi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University.

Taal is a geneticist and ecologist with a broad research focus including assessing the ecological consequences of wildlife over-exploitation, fisheries management, the ecology and conservation of predators, disease ecology, and population dynamics in a changing climate.

Our conversation moved through several interesting research topics including how DNA techniques are re-writing our understanding of species' natural history; DNA bar-coding; studying the rare Humboldt marten; brown bears, rodents, and seed dispersal; passenger pigeons; recovering extinct species; the ecology of Lyme disease; trophic cascades, and more! 

Links for listeners:

USFWS proposal to list the Humboltd marten as Threatened under the ESA: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-10-09/pdf/2018-21794.pdf

James Estes book on trophic cascades

https://www.amazon.com/Trophic-Cascades-Predators-Changing-Dynamics/dp/1597264873

James Estes memoir Serendipity: An Ecologist's Quest to Understand Nature

https://www.amazon.com/Serendipity-Ecologists-Understand-Organisms-Environments/dp/0520285034

Estes et al. paper on trophic downgrading

https://people.clas.ufl.edu/rdholt/files/255.pdf

A conversation with Mark Penninger about the natural history and conservation of the bighorn sheep. Mark is the Forest Biologist for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, and a bighorn sheep and mountain goat specialist.

Called the "koepa" by the Northern Paiute people, the bighorn sheep is an icon of the mountain West; yet complex disease issues have stalled its complete recovery. Mark discusses the history of bighorn conservation, its life history, management, and how sheep conservationists are trying to solve pressing challenges to sheep recovery. 

Links for listeners:

Sheep Conservation Strategy from WAFWA:

https://www.wafwa.org/Documents%20and%20Settings/37/Site%20Documents/Working%20Groups/Wild%20Sheep/Publications/Bighorn%20Sheep%20Conservation%20Challenges%20-%20Management%20Strategies%20-%2021st%20Century-Reduced.pdf

A fascinating conversation with Michael P. Nelson, an environmental scholar, writer, teacher, speaker, consultant, and Professor of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy. He holds the Ruth H. Spaniol Chair of Renewable Resources and serves as the Lead Principal Investigator for the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest Long-Term Ecological Research program at Oregon State University. He is the philosopher in residence of the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Project, the longest continuous study of a predator-prey system in the world. 

We discuss the history of environmental ethics, Aldo Leopold, ethics in wildlife management, case studies in the application of an ethical framework or argument, natural resource curriculum, and more. 

Links for Listeners:

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold audio book:

https://www.amazon.com/A-Sand-County-Almanac/dp/B073VXNRF1

Kathleen Dean Moore's website with links to lectures, essays, books and other events: https://www.riverwalking.com/

A seminal book relating to Environmental Ethics: Roderick Nash's Wilderness and the American Mind: https://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-American-Mind-Roderick-Frazier/dp/0300091222/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1545536613&sr=1-2&keywords=wilderness+in+the+american+mind

The biography of Aldo Leopold by Curt Meine: https://www.amazon.com/Aldo-Leopold-His-Life-Work/dp/0299249042

Environmental philosophy text on Leopold's Land Ethic by J.B. Callicot, In Defense of the Land Ethic Essays in Environmental Philosophy:

https://www.amazon.com/Defense-Land-Ethic-Environmental-Philosophy/dp/0887069002

A conversation with Kim Nelson, a Research Wildlife Biologist in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University. Kim is a leading researcher on pacific seabirds and particularly the marbled murrelet. The marbled murrelet is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and listed as endangered in California and Washington state. 

Like the spotted owl, the murrelet requires old growth forest for nesting habitat, however the species has proved extraordinarily difficult to study. Kim unveils the secrets of this enigmatic species. 

Links for listeners:

Look for this announcement for the summer of 2019. This is a fun citizen science event open to the public:

https://audubonportland.org/issues/species/murrelet/survey2

Books:

https://www.amazon.com/Seabird-Forest-Mystery-Marbled-Murrelet/dp/1590787153

https://www.amazon.com/Rare-Bird-Pursuing-Mystery-Murrelet/dp/1594860904