Great Gray Owls (Strix nebulosa) are among the world’s larger owls, and California is the southernmost extension of their Holarctic distribution. What habitats and habitat features are most important to California’s beautiful and enigmatic Great Gray Owls, and what does climate change mean for the longer-term stability of the species’ very small population in our state? Dr. Rodney Siegel will provide an introduction to California’s Great Gray Owls, and then discuss a decade of research conducted by The Institute for Bird Populations and colleagues to better understand the California population’s habitat needs and the relative risks posed by changing wildfire patterns and anthropogenic climate change. Rodney will focus in particular on ongoing research in Yosemite National Park that was generously funded in part by San Fernando Valley Audubon Society.
Rodney Siegel joined IBP in 1998 as a research scientist, after completing his B.A. at Yale and his Ph.D. at U.C. Davis. He was appointed Executive Director in 2008. Rodney’s research interests include effects of fire and forest management on birds, conservation of meadow birds in the Sierra Nevada, ecology and conservation of owls, and effects of climate change on forest birds. He is particularly interested in research that has practical applications for management and conservation. Rodney has published nearly 80 papers in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored multiple conservation strategies for California birds.
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