Conservation Science

Fellow Story

The growing peril of biological invasions

As the Trump Administration prepares to halve the budget for the National Invasive Species Council, a group of invasive species experts led by Fellow Laura Meyerson has issued a warning about the growing peril of biological invasions and the increasing threat they pose to the economy, environment, public health and national security.
May 1, 2019
Fellow Story

Parker's work on Pacific lamprey genetics recognized in Yurok Tribe publication

Fellow Keith Parker's work using cutting-edge technology to identify differences in lamprey DNA, and the resulting scientific paper, were featured in Yurok Today. As one of his mentors, Matt Johnson, told him recently, "Fish recovery is simultaneously a social justice issue and a scientific issue -- they can't be separated -- and Yurok people are leaders on both fronts. Likewise with Condor reintroduction." Download the article: Yurok Today cover
April 10, 2019
Fellow Story

Wiley named 2019 recipient of Mass Audubon's Hemenway + Hall Wildlife Conservation Award

Dr. David Wiley, Research Coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and an expert on seabirds and endangered whales, has been named the 2019 recipient of Mass Audubon’s Hemenway + Hall Wildlife Conservation Award.
April 10, 2019
Fellow Story

Garren recognized as one of 35 world-changing women for business and the environment

Conscious Company Media recently chose its 2019 lineup of courageous female-identifying game-changers paving the way for positive global impact. Fellow Melissa Garren was one of them! ... Melissa Garren is a marine biologist on a mission. She helped found Pelagic Data Systems in 2014 to address the interwoven challenges coastal communities face when it comes to food scarcity and the sustainability of fisheries.
February 1, 2019
Fellow Story

Can genetic engineering save disappearing forests?

Humans have not yet released a genetically engineered plant that is intended to spread and persist in an unmanaged environment. Biotech trees – genetically engineered or gene-edited – offer the possibility of releasing genetically engineered trees into forests to counter threats to forest health and represent a new frontier in biotechnology, writes Fellow Jason Delborne.
January 23, 2019
Fellow Story

Beal to head Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

In her last Cabinet nomination, Gov. Janet Mills announced Friday (January 18 ,2019) afternoon that she has chosen the president of Maine Farmland Trust to head the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.
January 23, 2019
Fellow Story

Conserving southern California's native flora

Switzer funds assisted the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) to create a new position for Fellow Nick Jensen as Southern California Conservation Analyst. Nick, a recent PhD graduate in botany from Claremont Graduate University, joined the organization to further his ambition of putting his botany expertise to applied use in an advocacy-oriented organization. After nearly a year in the new position, it is clear to Nick Jensen that effective conservation advocacy requires diverse networks, and that building these relationships takes time.&n
January 16, 2019
Fellow Story

Jensen and colleagues kicked out of Tejon Ranch project after criticism

To fend off lawsuits over its plans to build a new city in the rugged countryside northwest of Los Angeles, Tejon Ranch Co. made a landmark concession to environmentalists. It promised a decade ago to preserve 90% of its land — 240,000 acres — as an untouched ecological conservancy for public enjoyment through educational and research programs.
December 10, 2018
Fellow Story

Gallo publishes on fish populations thriving in waters containing almost no oxygen

Scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have discovered that two species of fish are capable of living in ocean waters almost completely devoid of oxygen.
December 10, 2018