Thursday, February 8, 2024
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Speaker: Matthew Lau, U.S. National Park Service
Register HERE for this Speaker Series

Topic:
There is a small but locally significant breeding population of western snowy plovers at Point Reyes National Seashore. They are federally listed as Threatened and California state listed as a Species of Special Concern, but the local breeding population size has been gradually increasing over the past half decade due to intensive management and monitoring across the range. Matt will present on the fascinating breeding biology of western snowy plovers, cover local conservation issues that snowy plovers face, and review local population trends and ongoing research and management at Point Reyes National Seashore.

Speaker Bio:
Matt is a wildlife biologist with Point Reyes National Seashore and leads the management and monitoring program for western snowy plovers. He has worked with snowy plovers for over a decade, at Point Reyes National Seashore and in northern California while working on his master’s degree at Cal Poly Humboldt. As a National Park Service biologist, he also conducts surveys of breeding northern elephant seals, Point Reyes Mountain beavers, and tule elk. His interests include shorebird ecology, bat conservation, spatial ecology, conservation education, and diversity and inclusion work.

Photo: Queen of Limantour
Photo by: NPS/Matt Lau

Next Speaker Series
“Avian Diversity”
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Speaker: Jordan Boersma, Cornell Ornithology Lab