Heading North Again, 26 July 2010

After a few short weeks at Manomet headquarters catching up with all of the paperwork it takes to run a research program, I'm heading north again back to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  From late July to early August, we will be surveying the entire coastline of the Refuge as part of our effort to find the most important places for staging shorebirds as they prepare for their southbound migrations.  This is critical given ongoing plans to develop oil and natural gas resources in the Beaufort Sea.  And this year, as the disaster in the Gulf has shown us, being prepared and knowing what areas are most important to wildlife seems even more critical as we attempt to take stock of the damage in the Gulf.  Our American Oystercatcher Initiative Coordinator, Shiloh Schulte, was scheduled to come north with us to help with the work in the Arctic, but just like many wildlife biologists around the country who have been called into service in the Gulf, Shiloh will instead will be working hard on damage assessment efforts related to Oystercatchers and other migrating shorebirds.  This counterpoint, struggling to respond to an existing disastrous spill while also working in areas that could be threatened by a similar disaster, makes it even clearer why we need to know what areas are critical to shorebirds along the Arctic coastline, where oil exploration is already underway as well.  I will be sending podcasts from the field as we work our way along the coastline, and keep you up to date with our progress.