Liberty Wildlife & USFW

I learned about human impact on biodiversity during my undergraduate years. Outside of my education, I gained valuable experience working with Liberty Wildlife for 2 years. Liberty Wildlife Rehabilitation Foundation is an organization that provides quality environmental education, committed to offering conservation services to the community and nurtures Arizona’s nature with quality wildlife rehabilitation. Under the direction of wildlife biologist Jim Dawson, in the Research and Conservation (R&C) department, we worked on solving conflicts associated with human-wildlife interactions, conducted scientific research, and provided specialized services. A major project I contributed to was assisting Arizona’s electrical companies, APS and SRP, with their internal Avian Protection Plan, specifically with avian electrocution and species identification through quality education for their power-line workers. Power companies have a vested interest in the raptor nests because they can cause power outages when nests catch fire. Understanding the detrimental effects powering urban spaces has on biodiversity may not always be easily seen by the public. Working on this avian electrocution program brought a new understanding to the work conservationists do with power companies by leading me behind the scenes both in design of transformers and collaboration to remove/relocate nests, eggs, and birds safely. Another project I have worked on was a U.S. Fish and Wildlife grant mapping raptor electrocution data gathered from powerline workers throughout Arizona, revealing ravens were the most electrocuted raptor in Arizona.