Birding Information: The Race to Bring Northern White Rhinos Back from the Brink of Extinction
Jill Hedgecock

Northern white rhinos were deemed functionally extinct in March 2018 after the death of Sudan, the last male rhino. Currently, only two females remain on the planet. Jill Hedgecock will describe science’s innovative solution to hopefully save the species.

Jill Hedgecock has long-standing roots with MDAS, serving as the International Conservation Coordinator in the early 1990s. She has a master’s degree in Environmental Management from USF and has written two rhino-inspired suspense novels to promote awareness about the plight of rhinos.

Main Program:
Harmonizing Bird Conservation with Food Production in Farming Landscapes
Daniel Karp

A critical challenge for this century is transitioning towards sustainable farming systems that simultaneously produce food and conserve wildlife. Yet conservation scientists and practitioners have traditionally fixated on protected areas and overlooked opportunities for conserving wildlife alongside us in working landscapes. Dr. Daniel Karp uses ecological research to develop strategies for co-managing agriculture for bird conservation, crop production, and food-safety outcomes, both in the tropics and here in California. For this talk, Daniel will first discuss how climate change and habitat conversion are affecting tropical bird communities, and how shifts in farming practices may mitigate their combined impacts. Then, Daniel will shift his focus to California agricultural systems, where birds play multiple roles on farms, not only consuming crops and spreading foodborne diseases, but also consuming crop pests. Daniel will outline his lab’s work striving to find ways to manage California birds and take advantage of the benefits they can provide farmers, while minimizing harms to food production.

Daniel Karp is an associate professor in the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology at UC Davis. Daniel completed his Ph.D. in 2013 and undergraduate studies in 2009 at Stanford University’s Department of Biology. Following his graduate studies, Daniel became an inaugural NatureNet postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and the Nature Conservancy. He then received a Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research at The University of British Colombia, before beginning his position at UC Davis in 2017.