Tufted Puffins of the NW Coast

Scott Pearson, PhD, Senior Wildlife Scientist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Dr. Pearson is a senior research scientist at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife where he has supervised the west-side research team for the past 16 years.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington and his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Michigan. His research is focused on assessing wildlife population status and trends, diet, habitat use and quality, evaluating the effectiveness of conservation efforts, and identifying mechanisms responsible for population declines. He is currently monitoring and conducting research projects on the marbled murrelet, tufted puffin, pinniped diet and population trends, snowy plover, streaked horned lark, and marine birds and mammals generally.

Scott’s presentation will focus on tufted puffin natural history, conservation status, ongoing conservation actions, and the latest information on population trends range-wide.  He will also provide an overview of our ongoing research in Washington to help us better understand puffin diet, reproductive success and habitat use.  Scott will include photographs of puffins and their coastal environment that he and Dr. Peter Hodum captured over the past couple of years.

Click here to register for this virtual field trip