Professional Activities |
For links that lead to pdf
slideshows, use the pdf toolbar to adjust the size of the slides to fit
your monitor. The pdf toolbar appears when you place your cursor near
the bottom center of a slide. |
Return to Home |
Sep 15-Dec 15, 2015 |
Taught General Biology at
Santa Monica College as an Adjunct Professor. |
|
Sep 4-7, 2015 |
Attended the 13th
International Grouse Symposium in Reykjavik, Iceland, where I presented
a paper on statistical habitat suitability modeling for Sierra Sooty
Grouse. Really enjoyed being intellectual and partying with my old
European grouse researcher friends Marc, Claude, Emanuel, and Luca. My
wife Mini was finally able to enjoy their company as well. Many
attendees had been conducting research in the arctic, and their reports
on dramatic climate-related ecological change in the arctic were truly
sobering. |
conference abstracts |
Jun 22-Jul 31, 2015 |
Taught a summer General
Biology course at Santa Monica College. |
|
May 28, 2015 |
You can call me Dr. Bland.
After taking a "break" for many years - teaching and conducting field
studies - I made final revisions to my dissertation and plopped it on my
old committee members' desks, all 459 pages. Humility aside, they were
very impressed - and I'm not talking about the size. UCLA Professor Hartmut Walter promptly
petitioned for readmission "with departmental recommendation". In a
miraculously short 5-1/2 weeks four professors read the manuscript, and
I made the recommended revisions, gave an oral presentation/exam, and
filed the final manuscript. There will be no more grumbling about
that monkey on my back. Some cherry-picked praise by my
professors: "my god this is really interesting Geography", "very
timely and well done research", "you really
did an outstanding job", "superior dissertation", "I am super
impressed", "I like your mastery of biodiversity and people", "you did a
great job". |
dissertation webpage |
Jan 9, 2015 |
The corporation I recently
founded, Game Bird Research Group, was granted tax-exempt 501(c)(3)
status by the Internal Revenue Service. |
|
Apr 24, 2014 |
Founded a nonprofit
corporation, the Game Bird Research Group, dedicated to research and
monitoring of upland game birds. |
GBRG website |
Jan 31, 2014 |
Gave an oral presentation
at the Annual Conference of the Western Section of the Wildlife Society
in Reno, titled
Habitat Associations of Sierra Sooty Grouse Include Elements of Old
Forest. |
|
Dec 21-28, 2013 |
Reconnoitered a part of the
Meili Snow Mountains (Mt Kawagarbo), in northwestern Yunnan, China, as a
potential field study site. The area is bordered by Burma (Myanmar) to
the west, Tibet to the northwest, and Sichuan Province to the northeast.
It was formerly a part of Tibet, and Tibetan culture still prevails. It
is famous for its >20K ft peaks and rich cultural, physical, and
biological diversity. It has long been difficult for foreigners to
access. However, in recent years it has experienced major tourism
development, including highways and airports, and is now easily
accessible. I was delighted to establish contact with several local
guides and outfitters who are keen about wildlife and ready for
adventure. The status and distribution of the region's splendid
pheasants and other gallinaceous birds remain poorly known. |
photos |
Jun 21-23, 2013 |
Joined pika biologist
Lyle Nichols for a weekend of grouse territory mapping and pika
observation at Mineral King, Sequoia National Park. The area is
known to be good for Sooty Grouse, but no previous observation/location
data existed. We recorded locations of 17 male breeding territories and
2 brood-rearing sites. Grouse in the area are of the howardi
subspecies, which is a California Species of special Concern.
Grouse habitats and populations in the area appear to be doing well. |
photo |
Jun 20, 2013 |
Met with Jan Hamber and
Paul Collins of Santa Barbara Natural History Museum to view and
photograph a Sooty Grouse feather Jan had collected at Mt Abel (near Mt
Pinos) in 1976. The feather is the last physical evidence of Sooty
Grouse in the Sky Island Region of south-central California. Recently,
there has been confusion regarding its whereabouts, or whether it even
existed, but after our meeting Paul made sure it was entered into a
world-wide online database for museum specimens (ORNIS). |
photo |
Jun 14-15, 2013 |
Attended a 2-day training
workshop on GIS spatial analysis and modeling at UC Santa Cruz's
Center for Integrated Spatial Research. Improved my skills and
knowledge of raster analysis, terrain modeling, corridor modeling,
habitat suitability modeling, and geoprocess modeling in ArcGIS. |
|
Apr 13-17, 2013 |
Assisted in the capture of
Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse near Malad, Idaho. The birds were
transported to north-central Nevada for release. The project aims
to reintroduce Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse to Nevada, where they have
been extinct for more than a century. Trapping was a collaborative
effort between Idaho Fish and Game, Nevada Department of Wildlife, and
the US Geological Survey. |
photos |
Feb 11-25, 2013 |
Assisted in the capture and
radio-tagging of red-breasted geese at Durankulak, Bulgaria.
Red-breasted goose is an endangered species that nests in Siberia and
winters primarily in Bulgaria and Romania. Population declines in recent
decades appear to be due to illegal hunting and changes in landuse. The
Branta Conservation Centre
has been deploying satellite transmitters on the wintering grounds in an
effort to identify migration stopover sites, where measures can be taken
to reduce illegal hunting and conserve habitats. My wife has been
teaching Bulgarian counterparts how to use traditional Indian leg nooses
to trap the geese, as well as attach satellite transmitters with
harnesses made from Teflon ribbon. I was invited to help because I'm
known to follow her instructions diligently, even under field
conditions. During our 10 day trapping session we captured
3 geese and successfully fitted them with satellite transmitters. Their migration can
be followed at
redbreastedgoose.org and
seaturtle.org. |
photos |
Feb 1, 2013 |
Gave an oral presentation
at the Annual Conference of the Western Section of the Wildlife Society
in Sacramento, titled Home Range
and Seasonal Movements in a Southern Population of Sooty Grouse. |
|
Sep 15, 2012 |
Visited private lands
near Snelling, CA, to assess whether restoration of game pheasants might
be feasible. Since the owners converted to organic dairy farming about
20 years ago, habitat conditions have improved for pheasants, especially
with respect to weedy ditches and edges. A proliferation of orchards and
vineyards in the surrounding area has apparently inhibited natural
recolonization by pheasants. I have summarized the interests of the land
owners in a letter to my contacts with California Department of Fish and
Wildlife and Pheasants Forever. After further assessment, wild-caught
pheasants might be released on the land, or a program of pen-rearing and
release might be initiated. |
|
Jul 20-24, 2012 |
Attended the 12th
International Grouse Symposium in Matsumoto, Japan. This was the 3rd IGS
I have attended. They are held every 3rd year in different countries. I
gave an oral presentation on "Regional
Extirpation of Mount Pinos Sooty Grouse." My travel costs were
reduced thanks to a $1000 travel award form the IGS awards committee.
The meeting was cordial and very well organized. I enjoyed seeing old
grouse acquaintences from Norway, France, Germany, Sweeden, and China,
and made new friendships with grousers from Japan, Italy, Russia, and
Germany. Prior to the symposium I joined a field trip to the Japanese
Alps (Mt. Norikura) to see Japanese Rock Ptarmigan. During the symposium
I was able to meet a Japanese princess, and tour the oldest castle in
Japan. |
photos |
May 13th, 2012 |
Visited a male Sooty Grouse
discovered hooting in the southern Greenhorn Mtns by John Schmitt.
Alison Sheehey took me to the exact location. This bird is the
southernmost Sooty Grouse known in California. I surveyed the area and
10 more mountaintops further south in 2002 and did not find hooting
grouse at that time. The bird appears to be a mature adult, based on
plumage and persistent hooting (>6 weeks). The amount and dispersion of
fecal droppings in the area and lack of countersigning by other
individuals suggest he is alone, and the lack of old or over-winter
droppings suggests he arrived at the site a few weeks prior to my visit.
The site is about 4.5 miles south of the southernmost bona fide hooting
area at Sunday Peak. My working hypothesis is that he is/was associated
with the Sunday Peak hooting group, but chose to try his luck breeding
alone further south. If this is the case, he might represent an attempt
at recolonizing historic range. He is still close enough to the Sunday
Peak group to be a loosely-associated member, and may well spend the
winter with them. CDGF is preparing to put a satellite transmitter on
him if he returns next spring. |
photo |
Feb 1st, 2012 |
Gave two oral presentations
at the Annual Conference of the Western Section of the Wildlife Society
in Sacramento, one on the Regional Extirpation of Mt Pinos Sooty Grouse,
and another on the First Reteat Census of Sierra Sooty Grouse. Attended
a Fisher Symposium also because many habitat and conservation concerns
for fisher overlap with those of Sooty Grouse. |
|
Nov 14th, 2011 |
Gave a presentation on my
Sooty Grouse studies to staff of the USGS Field Station at Dixon, CA.
Tentatively agreed to collaborate on habitat modelling and analysis of
Pinecrest radiotelemetry data. |
|