Network Innovation Grant

Connecting the Scientific Method to Conservation Action for Pacific Albatross

$10,000 awarded to University of California, Santa Cruz in
Fellow(s): Myra Finkelstein, Vickie Bakker, Shaye Wolf, Noa Lincoln, Brad Keitt
Topic(s): Conservation Science, Environmental Engineering & Toxicology, Natural Resource Management

Dr. Myra Finkelstein of UC Santa Cruz, and Dr. Vickie Bakker of Montana State University are leading this collaborative project to research and develop consensus on updated population data and management status of two species of Pacific Albatross - the Blackfooted Albatross and the Laysan Albatross.  Results of this work will be compiled in a status assessment to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) with the goal of providing current data to supplement existing management recommendations and protection levels for these endangered seabirds that have been heavily impacted by fisheries bycatch.  Drs. Finkelstein and Bakker have convened an expert advisory panel comprised of USFWS staff; staff of the National Marine Fisheries Service; interested NGO and government agency personnel; and other Switzer Fellows including Dr. Shaye Wolf, Climate Science Director at the Center for Biological Diversity; Noa Lincoln, PhD candidate at UC Davis; and Dr. Brad Keitt of Island Conservation.  Status assessments of this kind are produced under the Endangered Species Act and serve as the best available science for management decisions, especially concerning fisheries management decisions.  

Myra Finkelstein is Assistant Adjunct Professor in Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology at UC Santa Cruz, with a long-standing research program in toxicological effects of pollutants on seabirds.  Vickie Bakker is Assistant Research Professor at Montana State University with expertise in applying quantitative methods of ecology for use by conservation practitioners.

Meet the Fellows on this Project

Myra Finkelstein

1998 Fellow
Myra Finkelstein’s research focuses on human impacts to wildlife with an emphasis on contaminant-induced effects. To fulfill this goal, her research seeks to develop links in the often difficult-to-understand causal chain between...

Vickie Bakker

1997 Fellow
Vickie’s work is geared toward adapting the academic tools of quantitative conservation ecology to the real world problems of conservation practitioners in the management of endangered species. In an approach she refers to as Population...

Shaye Wolf

2000 Fellow
Shaye is the Climate Science Director at the Center for Biological Diversity in San Francisco. She is interested in understanding the impacts of climate change on wildlife species and ecosystems, and securing science-based protections for...
Noa Lincoln

Noa Lincoln

2012 Fellow
Noa Kekuewa Lincoln exhibits a passion for life that keeps him energetically engaged in a broad range of communities. Born and raised in Hawaii he connects strongly with the Hawaiian culture, which places environment at the core of human...
Brad Keitt

Brad Keitt

1997 Fellow
Brad received an MS in Marine Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz and is a Switzer Foundation Conservation Fellow. His thesis work focused on the conservation and ecology of the Baja California endemic Black-vented...

Read About the Impact of this Grant

Fellow Story
Working Group Re-Assessing Pacific Albatross Population Status

Working Group Re-Assessing Status of Pacific Albatross Species