The Joy of Continuing Curiosity--Three Decades of Ecology Research

Description

Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society (OPAS) welcomes the general public to attend a special presentation featuring ecologist, Rhonda L Millikin. Now semi-retired, Rhonda’s career spans more than three decades with the Canadian Federal Government—first with Forestry Canada, then later with Environment and Climate Change Canada. Following her service in government, Rhonda pursued advanced degrees in Landscape Horticulture and Soil Science. Currently, she is combining these three scientific disciplines to develop an Ecosystem Sustainability approach to vineyard management. Over 30 years ago, Rhonda presented to OPAS on the work that became the focus of her PhD dissertation and the basis of two patented inventions—fusing radar and acoustics to passively locate and identify night-migrating birds in three-dimensional space. Subsequently, Rhonda formed EchoTrack, Inc., which applies her innovative technology to identify and conserve stopover sites for migrating birds and to recommend safer siting of wind turbines in proximity to migration flyways across North America and in South Africa. For our Audubon program, Rhonda will share some key insights from her work on night bird migration as well as some current findings from the work of her graduate students on shorebird stopover flight behaviors. Finally, as a special treat, Rhonda will sneak in a few ideas from her vineyard research that we all may apply to our own landscaping on the Olympic Peninsula to help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Won’t you please join OPAS in welcoming a longtime friend and distinguished scientist back into our midst for an informative and entertaining evening?