Conservation Lectures

Two Talks from two HSU graduate students who received funding from Sequoia Park Zoo’s Conservation Grant Program to support their research projects last year. Owls & Wine - A Perfect Pairing with CARRIE WENDT Farmers use nest boxes to attract breeding barn owls in many agricultural settings worldwide. Barn owls primarily feed on small rodents that are often farm pests. For her thesis work, Carrie is researching barn owl nest box selection on vineyards in Napa Valley. Currently, there is little understanding as to what habitat barn owls prefer to nest in. Purchasing and maintaining barn owl nest boxes can be expensive for farmers, so it is important to install boxes where they are most likely to attract owls. Den Attendance in Pacific Fishers with CAYLEN CUMMINS Fishers are an imperiled forest carnivore in California and the Pacific Northwest, where state and federal organizations have proposed further protections for the species. Many fisher research projects have focused on den ecology, which requires tracking radio-collared fishers to their den trees, where they raise their young. In this talk, Caylen will present a novel, homemade technology that allows researchers to collect detailed information on fisher denning behavior and that also minimizes the potential for research-related disturbances to the focal study animals. Denning female fishers were monitored with these devices for den-attendance information across three different regions in California.