Working with a dynamic, collaborative team and under the supervision of the Director and Research Director of Point Blue’s Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group, the Central Valley Avian Ecologist will be one of Point Blue’s lead representatives and liaisons to agencies and partners in the Central Valley. This position will help evolve Point Blue’s conservation science strategy in the Central Valley and will be an important part of the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership (MBCP).
Specifically, this position will serve as Point Blue’s lead in an ongoing study evaluating the impact of drought on migratory shorebirds. This project involves the capture, radio-tagging, and bleeding of shorebirds in the Central Valley to better understand how drought influences their body condition and movements. The position will also work closely with The Nature Conservancy and Audubon California to implement habitat incentive programs on private lands by leading the analytics to assess where and when habitat should be created to have the maximum benefit for wetland-dependent birds, particularly shorebirds. The position will work with existing datasets and newly collected data to conduct analyses of the effectiveness of incentive programs and various land management practices. The position will also provide technical consultation to key partners and partnerships.