[Tweeters] WOS Monthly Meeting, March 3, 2025

[via Tweeters]

The Washington Ornithological Society (WOS) is pleased to announce our next Monthly Meeting: on Monday, March 3, Matt Farr and Toby Ross will present, “Counting Seabirds in Puget Sound: How Difficult Could It Be?”  Healthy seabird populations are an indicator of a healthy ocean.  Unfortunately, many of our seabird populations are imperiled and in need of conservation action.  Among those monitoring seabird species and assessing population trends is the Puget Sound Seabird Survey (PSSS), a citizen science effort in which volunteers conduct monthly surveys at sites around the South Salish Sea.  Collection of data is however only the first step toward understanding the underlying ecology of seabird declines.  In this presentation, our speakers will explore the underbelly of translating counts of birds to estimates of population trends.

Matt Farr is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington within the Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. His research topics span population and community ecology with emphasis on developing hierarchical models to estimate population abundance and dynamics. Matt’s current research uses quantitative methods to evaluate monitoring strategies for marine birds and estimate species population statuses and trends. Matt works with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Puget Sound Bird Observatory on sea duck and seabird research in the Salish Sea and with US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Alaska Maritime Wildlife Refuge on Tufted Puffin research across their North American range. Prior to coming to UW, Matt received his PhD in Zoology and Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from Michigan State University in 2021 and his BS in Wildlife from Purdue University in 2014.

Toby Ross holds a BS in Zoology and an MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation from UK universities.  He has been dedicated to global conservation efforts for more than 30 years.  Toby's work has spanned invasive species eradication in the Caribbean, reptile research in Mauritius, and protected area development for Tree Kangaroos in Papua New Guinea.  His passion for ornithology grew during his eight years as Science Manager at Seattle Audubon (now Birds Connect Seattle), overseeing citizen science programs.  Toby has been director of, since its creation in 2007, the Puget Sound Seabird Survey (PSSS), now a program of the Puget Sound Bird Observatory (PSBO).  This year he is responsible for training, coordinating 268 volunteers distributed at 157 sites.  Interested individuals are welcome to visit the website to learn more and get involved.  Toby also runs Alight Tours, guiding birding adventures worldwide with a focus on conservation and community engagement.  

This meeting will be conducted virtually, via Zoom (no in-person attendance).  Sign-in will begin at 7:15 pm, and the meeting commences at 7:30 pm.  Please go to the WOS Monthly Meetings page:   https://wos.org/monthly-meetings/  for instructions on participation and to get the Zoom link.

When joining the meeting, we ask that you mute your device and make certain that your camera is turned off.

This meeting is open to all as WOS invites everyone in the wider birding community to attend and participate.  Thanks to the generosity of our presenters, recordings of past programs are available at the following link to the WOS YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@washingtonornithologicalso7839/videos

If you are not yet a member of WOS, we hope you will consider becoming one at  https://wos.org

Please join us!

Elaine Chuang
WOS Program Support