COMMITTEES

Awards Committee Chair
term: 2011-2014

Gary M. Santolo
Senior Scientist
CH2M HILL, Inc.
Sacramento, CA 95833 U.S.A.
voice: 916-286-0283
e-mail: gsantolo@ch2m.com

Gary Santolo earned his B.S. and M.S. in Avian Sciences from the University of California, Davis, in 1984 and 1994. Since 1988 he has been a biologist for CH2M HILL in Sacramento, where he worked as a wildlife biologist and toxicologist collecting biological samples for contaminant studies and Ecological Risk Assessments. He also prepares biological assessments for endangered species and develops mitigation plans for Section 7 and 10(a) under the Endangered Species Act. He specializes in bird and mammal trapping, biological monitoring, and endangered species surveys. His research has focused on the effects of selenium to wildlife, especially reproductive effects, and he has designed and implemented several field and laboratory studies of reproductive effects of selenium on American kestrels.

Kate Davis
Raptors of the Rockies
P.O. Box 250
Florence, MT 59833
e-mail: raptors@montana.com
http://www.raptorsoftherockies.org/
http://raptorsoftherockies.blogspot.com/
http://www.raptorsoftherockies.com/

Kate Davis has been immersed in a world of wild animals beginning as a teenager at the Cincinnati Zoo Junior Zoologists Club. With a degree in Zoology from the University of Montana, her non-profit organization Raptors of the Rockies was formed in 1988, and eighteen non-releasable and falconry birds are used in educational programs. Kate served as the Chair of the Education Committee, and her organization hosted the 2008 Raptor Research Foundation Conference in Missoula. She depicts raptors in drawings, paintings, etchings, monotype prints, and welded steel sculptures. Kate’s second book is Falcons of North America, and 2001’s Raptors of the West Captured in Photographs won the National Outdoor Book Award.

Rick Watson
Vice President and International Programs Director
The Peregrine Fund
5668 West Flying Hawk Lane
Boise, ID 83709 U.S.A.
voice: 208-362-8272
e-mail: rwatson@peregrinefund.org
website: www.globalraptors.org/grin/ResearcherResults.asp?lresID=137

Rick Watson earned his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, in 1986, with research to identify the cause of decline of the Bateleur (poisoning). He joined The Peregrine Fund in 1990 to start the Madagascar Project, and subsequently other raptor research and conservation projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. His research has focused on raptor population ecology, usually to understand and respond to the decline of species including Madagascar Fish Eagles (habitat loss and persecution), Harpy Eagles (habitat loss and persecution), Asian Gyps vultures (diclofenac poisoning), and California Condors (lead poisoning from spent ammunition).

Joan L. Morrison
Professor of Biology
Trinity College
300 Summit St.
Hartford, CT 06106-3100 U.S.A.
voice: 860-297-4120
e-mail: joan.morrison@trincoll.edu

Joan Morrison received her Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida. Since 2000 she has been on the Biology faculty at Trinity College, where she teaches courses in conservation biology, global biodiversity, environmental science, and avian ecology. Her research program continues to focus on the population biology and ecology of Crested Caracaras in Florida, and she currently is investigating the reproductive biology of an urban population of Red-tailed Hawks. She served as the Secretary for RRF from 2007-2010.

Travis L. Booms
Regional Wildlife Biologist
Wildlife Diversity Program
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
1300 College Rd.
Fairbanks, AK 99701 U.S.A.
voice: 907-459-7378
email: travis.booms@alaska.gov

Travis Booms earned his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2010 and currently is employed as a biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Wildlife Diversity Program in Fairbanks. He conducts research and survey projects on Alaska’s nongame species in central, western, and northern Alaska. His most recent efforts include a state-wide raptor data legacy initiative and research projects on the movement ecology of Gyrfalcons and Short-eared Owls.

Jemima Parry-Jones MBE
Director International Centre for Birds of Prey
Boulsdon House
Newent
Gloucestershire GL18 1JJ
United Kingdom
voice: ++44 (0)1531 820286
e-mail: jpj@icbp.org
website: www.icbp.org

Jemima Parry-Jones earned her MBE from the Queen in 1999 for services to bird conservation. She was born and brought up with falconry and the conservation of birds of prey, and since 1982 she has owned and run the International Centre for Birds of Prey through several changes while remaining true to its ethics. It’s the second oldest raptor centre worldwide and is open to the public. Jemima has written seven books and advised many people and projects on education, rehabilitation, and captive breeding. She currently is working with the RSPB, ZSL, and the Bombay Natural History Society on the vulture rescue project in India, working on captive breeding the three critically endangered species of Gyps vultures in South East Asia.

Jeremy Scheivert
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary
1700 Hawk Mountain Road
Kempton, PA 19529-9449
voice: 610-756-6000 x209
email: scheivert@hawkmountain.org
website: http://www.hawkmountain.org/

Michael N. Kochert
U. S. Geological Survey
Snake River Field Station
970 Lusk Street
Boise, ID 83330 U.S.A.
voice: 208-426-5201
e-mail: mkochert@usgs.gov

Mike Kochert is an Emeritus Scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey. He has conducted research on numerous raptor species for more than 40 years and is continuing his 40+ year work on Golden Eagles nesting in the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey NCA. He has been a member of RRF since 1971. In addition to the Board of Directors, he has served as President, Vice President, Conferences Committee Chair, and on numerous ad hoc committees.

Ted Swem
Branch Chief, Endangered Species
Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
101 12th Ave., Room 110
Fairbanks, AK 99701 U.S.A.
voice: 907-456-0441
fax: 907-456-0208
e-mail: ted_swem@fws.gov

Ted Swem earned degrees from Boise State University (M.S., Raptor Biology, 1996) and Colorado State University (B.S., Zoology). Ted has been involved in raptor monitoring projects in Alaska since the mid-1970s, and now works in endangered species management for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He continues working with raptors as an avocation, and enjoys birding, wildlife photography, exploring Alaska’s backcountry, and a variety of poorly-played sports. He served one term on RRF’s Board of Directors, and is in his second term as Vice President.

Jessi Brown
PhD Candidate
Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology
Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Science
University of Nevada, Reno
1000 Valley Road,
Reno, NV 89512 U.S.A.
Voice: 775-784-7725
e-mail: jlbrown@unr.edu

Jessi is completing the final year of her dissertation research on the ecology and life history evolution of the Southeastern American Kestrel (Falco sparverius paulus) as a student at the University of Nevada, Reno in Mike Collopy’s Raptor Ecology Lab. However, her research interests are broad and include population dynamics, landscape ecology, cooperative foraging behavior, and the use of stable isotopes in ecology.

Laurie Goodrich
Senior Monitoring Biologist & Interim Director of Education
Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association
Acopian Center for Conservation Learning
410 Summer Valley Road
Orwigsburg, PA 17961 U.S.A.
voice: 570-943-3411 x 106
fax: 570-943-2284
e-mail: goodrich@hawkmtn.org

Laurie Goodrich received her M.S. in Ecology from Rutgers University in 1982 and her Ph.D. in Ecology from Penn State University in 2010. She works as the Senior Monitoring Biologist and Interim Director of Education for Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association in Kempton, PA, where she oversees the migration monitoring programs, assists with education outreach, and conducts research on the migration behavior and ecology of raptors. When not watching raptors, Laurie enjoys gardening, hiking, kayaking, and birding, all of which involve watching raptors as well.

James Dwyer
Environmental Scientist
EDM International, Inc.
4001 Automation Way
Fort Collins, CO 80525 U.S.A.
Voice: 970-204-4001
e-mail: jdwyer@edmlink.com

Dr. James Dwyer is a research and environmental scientist at EDM International, Inc. James works primarily to prevent the electrocution of raptors and other wildlife on overhead power lines, and to prevent collisions between wildlife and anthropogenic structures. James completed an undergraduate biology degree with an emphasis in ecology at the University of Montana, received his Master of Science with a major in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from the University of Arizona, and in Florida earned a Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife. James’ Dissertation on the Ecology of non-breeding and breeding Crested Caracaras included chapters on the movement, habitat, survival, and social ecology of non-breeding birds and detection models for breeding birds.