Conservation biology: Steelhead

Thanks to the students of CSUCI Environmental Science and Resource Management department where I guest lectured last week to the Conservation Biology class. A couple of timely followups which are relevant to my lecture on fragmentation and local steelhead populations:

At UCSB's Bren school this Wednesday:

A COMMUNITY COLLOQUIUM "Saving the World One Trout at a Time"
Chris Wood, President & CEO, Trout Unlimited
Wednesday, March 7, 2012, 11:30 - 12:30
Bren Hall 1414
http://www.bren.ucsb.edu/events/chris_wood.htm

and in the Patagonia Spring 2012 catalog, an article on steelhead in the Ventura River:
"Putting Water Back" by Eric Unmach.

Conservation biology: Video podcasts and lectures

If you have an interest in conservation biology and ecological restoration, pop on over to the dynamic Dr Anderson's video podcasts and lectures channel. Dr Sean Anderson (aka Professor Pongo) is a professor at California State University, Channel Islands and has very diverse interests and research sites, including Ecotoxicology of the Deepwater Horizon blowout in the gulf, an ongoing service learning class in New Orleans, roadkill surveys, and a large conservation project in Turkey.

Professor Pongo's Channel

Ocean Issues: Seafood sustainability

California State University, Channel Islands ESRM 462: Coastal and Marine Management - Fisheries Biology


The Monterey Bay Aquaruim Seafood Watch Program provides tools to help everyone choose more sustainable sources of seafood. Here's a link to their great website.





As we discussed in class, recent studies have quantified the global economic contribution of fisheries and examined the negative social and economic impacts of overfishing. Here's the link to some studies of the importance of global fisheries. You'll also find links there to excellent summaries of this work in the Pew Ocean Science Series.

In class we'll mostly be discussing wild capture fisheries, but if you're interested in aquaculture, here is a link to a recent article that discusses recent advances in aquaculture. You might also want to check out links to books and articles found on the suggested reading page.


Amazing predator-prey interactions here:

Ocean Issues: Island conservation

This month I'll be guest lecturing at California State University, Channel Islands in the Environmental Sciences and Resource Management department. In the ESRM 313 Conservation Biology class we'll be discussing Island Conservation and Management, focusing on specific case studies of resource use and conservation on islands.


Photo via The Nature Conservancy


One of the case studies we will be discussing is the Santa Cruz Island Restoration in the California Channel Islands.

• Watch the "Restoring Balance: Santa Cruz Island" video here. 

• Feral pigs facilitate hyperpredation by golden eagles and
  indirectly cause the decline of the island fox Roemer et al. 2001 

Another case study we will explore is the conservation of the Crested Iguana in Fiji.

Here's a link to an interesting story of conservation conflicts in the Galapagos islands.

Dr Clare Wormald