BOARD OF DIRECTOR NOMINATIONS

2003 NOMINATIONS COMMITTEE:

Abby N. Powell (chair), Bette A. Loiselle, Kevin J. Burns, and Barbara A. Kus

The following people (in alphabetical order) have agreed to be nominated for the Cooper Ornithological Society (COS) Board of Directors, to serve from 2004–2006.

David B. Lank is a Research Associate and Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Wildlife Ecology and Behavioral Ecology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada. His primary interests are animal behavior and conservation biology. He has a Ph.D. from Cornell University (1983), an M.Sc. from the University of Minnesota (1979), and a B.S. from Marlboro College (1973). He has been a COS Member since 1990. Dr. Lank has authored or coauthored more than 55 scientific papers, including three in The Condor. He regularly reviews papers for The Condor and other ornithological journals, as well as behavior, ecology, wildlife, and evolution journals. His current research includes an ongoing 18-year study of behavioral and plumage polymorphism in Ruffs (Philomachus pugnax), integrated studies of Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) throughout its annual cycle, and the conservation biology of Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in British Columbia. He applauds the online access to COS publications and supports the development of mechanisms to make current issues available online to personal and institutional subscribers. He would also work toward streamlining the reviewing process and strengthening the Society's profile and contact with Latin America.

Margaret Petersen is a Research Wildlife Biologist at the Alaska Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, Alaska. After several years with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service working on seabirds and marine waterfowl in Alaska, Margaret returned to school and completed her Ph.D. at the University of California-Davis in 1991. Her research interests focus on postbreeding ecology of marine waterfowl, including heavy metal contamination, molt ecology, migration, and population distribution. She has been involved with a wide array of research projects including genetic characterization of eider populations and diseases in wild birds, and she has conducted cooperative studies of eiders in Norway and Russia. Her current research includes migration and distribution of Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) and Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) populations. She is also a member of the Spectacled Eider (Somateria fischeri) and Steller's Eider (Polysticta stelleri) Recovery Teams. Dr. Petersen has been a member of the COS since 1972 and is a life member. She first published a paper in The Condor in 1979 and has served as a reviewer for The Condor. Her published research has appeared in other ornithological, management, contaminant, and genetic journals as well.

Luis Miguel Renjifo coordinates the Conservation Biology Program of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute in Colombia. He received a B.S. from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogota in 1988, an M.Sc. (1994) and a Ph.D. (1999) from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. His research interests involve bird responses to anthropogenic disturbances at local and landscape levels, status assessment of threatened species, and identification of conservation priorities. He has studied the effects of forest fragmentation and contrasting landscape matrices on the conservation of Neotropical forest birds, as well as habitat requirements of extinction-prone bird species in the Andes. He is senior editor of the Colombian Red Data Book of Threatened Birds, and he led the formulation of the National Strategy for Bird Conservation of Colombia, as well as the implementation of the three core projects of this strategy. At the international level he has collaborated since the late 1980s with BirdLife International (formerly ICBP) in publications such as Threatened Birds of the Americas, Endemic Bird Areas of the World, and Key Areas for Threatened Birds in the Neotropics. Although he has not attended COS meetings on a regular basis, he would do so if elected. If elected to the COS Board of Directors, he would like to encourage a more active participation in the Society by avian biologists from developing countries in the Americas, as well encourage active participation in bird conservation based on sound science.

Peter B. Stacey is a Research Professor of Biology at the University of New Mexico-Albuquerque. He received his Ph.D. (1978) from the University of Colorado and did postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago. Prior to taking his position in New Mexico, he held positions at Indiana State University, at the University of Nevada-Reno, and as Curator of Ornithology at the Denver Museum of Natural History. He became a member of COS in 1979, and since then has regularly attended meetings, helped organize symposiums, and presented numerous papers. He was a member of the Resolutions Committee and was on the local committee for the 2001 COS meeting in Albuquerque. He has reviewed numerous papers for The Condor and Studies in Avian Biology. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union in 1992, and was an original member of that society's Conservation Committee and Committee on the Red-cockaded Woodpecker. He has published more than 60 scientific articles and coedited Cooperative Breeding in Birds. His current research interests include the ecology and genetics of avian social behavior, dispersal and metapopulation dynamics of rare or endangered species, including the Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) and the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), and the role of predators and herbivores in structuring avian communities. He also recently has become involved in a project to combine empirical scientific approaches with the traditional knowledge of Native American communities in K-12 education programs and in the efforts by the Pueblo Indians in northern New Mexico to restore the Rio Grande River and its associated bosque habitats.

Mary J. Whitfield is the Research Director of the Southern Sierra Research Station, Weldon, California. She holds a B.S. degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from the University of California-Davis, and a M.Sc. in Biology from California State University-Chico. She has been a member of COS since 1986 and regularly attends meetings and presents research. She has served on the Student Awards Committee. She has published papers in and reviewed papers for Studies in Avian Biology. In addition, she coedited the most recent SAB volume, Ecology and Conservation of the Willow Flycatcher. Mary has worked on a long-term breeding ecology study of the Willow Flycatcher since 1989. In conjunction with this study, she has studied the effects of a Brown-headed Cowbird trapping program (started in 1993) on the reproductive success of the Willow Flycatcher. Over the past several years, she expanded her Willow Flycatcher work to their wintering areas in Mexico, Central America, and South America.

REPORT OF THE SEVENTY-THIRD ANNUAL MEETING OF THE COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY

The Cooper Ornithological Society held its 73rd annual meeting at the Du Bois Conference Center, on the campus of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, 30 April–3 May, 2003. Mark Sogge chaired the Local Committee. Charles van Riper III chaired the Scientific Program Committee. There were 250 registrants. The program included 112 papers, including 15 in a symposium on sagebrush ecosystems, 10 in a symposium on Yellow-billed Cuckoo ecology and management, and 87 contributed papers, plus 26 contributed posters. A workshop on using the program DISTANCE to estimate avian abundance also was offered.

The Society's award for lifetime achievement in ornithological research, the Miller Award, was presented to Peter and Rosemary Grant. Terry Rich, the President of the Cooper Ornithological Society, read the full citation. The Grants graciously accepted the award via an acceptance letter, but were unable to attend the annual meeting.

The Society's Harry R. Painton Award was presented to Charles R. Brown and Mary Bomberger Brown for their paper “Fitness components associated with laying date in the Cliff Swallow” (1999, Condor 101:230–245). The Painton Award, which includes a cash prize of $1000, is awarded every other year and honors the author(s) of the best paper published in The Condor during the previous four years.

Theresa Bucher and John Rotenberry were recognized with Honorary Membership to the Cooper Ornithological Society for their service to the society. Dr. Bucher is currently serving on the Board of Directors, and her expertise has been valuable as chair of the Finance Committee during trying times. She also served on the Nominating for Directors, Paper Awards, Centennial Meeting, and Annual Meeting Committees. Dr. Rotenberry has been the editor of Studies in Avian Biology for the past 10 years, has served on the Publications and By-Laws committee, chaired the local committee for the 2000 annual meeting in Riverside, and is President-elect.

Mewaldt-King Student Research Awards were presented to David Cerasale, from the University of Montana, for “Physiological assessment of avian refueling rates during stopover,” and Ryan Norris of Queens University, Ontario, Canada, for “Linking summer and winter events in a long distance migratory landbird.” Dr. Bruce Dugger chaired the committee and was assisted by Drs. Dan Roby and Tara Robinson.

Three Grinnell Student Research Awards were presented, one first place and two second places. First place was awarded to Sarah Huber of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, for “Performance trade-offs in the flight song displays of Melospiza melodia.” Second place winners were Jennifer Long, of the University of Maine-Orono, for “Hormonal and cellular mechanisms of increased lipid synthesis during migratory fattening in the Dark-eyed Junco,” and Bonnie Gulas, from University of Chicago, for “A phylogenetic review of the Pelecaniformes.” Dr. Cameron Ghalambor chaired the Grinnell Award Committee and was assisted by Drs. Robert Fleischer and Joseph Williams.

The Cooper Ornithological Society presented four awards for outstanding student papers: the A. Brazier Howell Award, the Frances F. Roberts Award, and two Board of Directors awards. Kristine L. Preston, from the University of California-Riverside, received the A. Brazier Howell Award for her paper, “Testing the relative importance of predator and food-mediated processes controlling fecundity in an arid shrubland songbird.” Kristin A. Cover, of Northern Arizona University, received the Francis F. Roberts Award for her paper, “Winter foraging behavior of Hairy Woodpeckers following wildfire” with coauthors Tad C. Theimer and William M. Block. Jay C. Carlisle, of the University of South Dakota, received a Board of Directors Award for his paper, “Use of a tartrate emetic at a fall stopover site in Idaho: efficiency and effects on migrants.” Jeremy R. Egbert, of Boise State University, received one of the Board of Directors Awards for his poster “Wing shape in House Finches differs relative to migratory habit in eastern and western North America,” coauthored with James R. Belthoff.

Through the annual balloting by all members of the Society, Patricia J. Heglund, John M. Marzluff, and Sallie J. Hejl were elected to three-year terms on the Board of Directors. In the Board of Directors meetings, the following were elected to assume, or to continue in, office: Bonnie S. Bowen, President; John T. Rotenberry, President-elect (beginning 1 January 2004); Eileen M. Kirsch, Secretary; Carol Beardmore, Assistant Secretary; Kimberly A. Sullivan, Treasurer; Thomas J. Edwards, Assistant Treasurer, David S. Dobkin, Editor of The Condor, and John T. Rotenberry, Editor of Studies in Avian Biology until 1 January 2004, when Carl D. Marti will succeed him.

The next annual meeting of the Cooper Ornithological Society will be held at the La Crosse Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin, 4–9 May 2004. Eileen Kirsch is chair of the Local Committee, and Todd Arnold is chair of the Scientific Program Committee.

The Board of Directors passed the following two resolutions. If you know of individuals or organizations that should receive official copies of either of these resolutions, contact Mark Sogge, chair of the Conservation-Resolutions Committee or Ellen Paul, Ornithological Council.

WIND ENERGY

Whereas, bird populations are negatively affected by energy generation that produces pollution that leads to acid rain and other environmental degradation; and

Whereas, bird populations are negatively affected by energy generation that requires the use of nonrenewable resources, and particularly those that are produced in a manner that causes habitat destruction or environmental degradation, such as coal-bed methane extraction or mountain-topping coal mining; and

Whereas, wind energy provides nonpolluting power using a renewable resource; but

Whereas, avian mortality has been documented at some wind tower farms; and

Whereas, avian mortality and morbidity associated with wind tower farms has not been studied adequately; and

Whereas, the causes of such mortality and morbidity are not fully understood; and

Whereas, mitigation methods cannot be developed until the causes of mortality and morbidity are better understood; and

Whereas, the Wildlife/Wind Interaction Working Group of the National Wind Coordinating Committee published in 1999 a Guidance Document detailing the studies recommended for determining potential impacts on birds of wind energy projects and for monitoring such impacts; and

Whereas, the current federal tax credit afforded to wind energy producers will expire on 31 December 2003 and is presently before Congress for renewal; and

Whereas, wind energy producers are required to have towers in operation by 31 December 2003 in order to claim the tax credit and therefore do not have sufficient time to conduct the studies recommended by the Wildlife/Wind Interaction Working Group;

Therefore be it resolved that the Cooper Ornithological Society recommends that, if the federal tax credit is extended, the legislation be amended to provide that the tax credit shall not be available unless the tax credit applicant can document (1) that recent preconstruction studies to determine the potential impacts have been completed, (2) that said studies conform to the standards established by the Wildlife/Wind Interaction Working Group, and (3) that applicant has implemented or will implement all measures, including compliance with siting and other guidelines, recommended by that subcommittee or by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to mitigate the impacts on birds; and

Be it further resolved that the Cooper Ornithological Society calls on wind energy producers to establish a research fund to be used to study the impacts of wind energy projects on birds, and to develop technologies to reduce or eliminate the negative impacts of wind energy projects on birds; and

Be it further resolved that the Cooper Ornithological Society calls on wind energy producers to implement the best available technologies to reduce or eliminate avian mortality and morbidity at wind energy projects.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE COLLECTIONS

Whereas, the collection, identification, and curation of biological specimens is essential to the study of biodiversity and the evolutionary origins and patterns of life; and

Whereas, significant expertise and resources are needed to collect, identify, and maintain biological specimens in a manner that will result in the extraction of the maximum amount of information from these specimens; and

Whereas the maintenance of intact collections is necessary to provide the scientific information that is the fundamental purpose of these collections; and

Whereas, significant expertise and resources are needed to maintain scientific collections of biological specimens in a manner that will assure their continued existence; and

Whereas, biological specimens may be collected on National Park Service property; and

Whereas, the National Park Service policy mandates that the biologists who collect and identify these specimens and the institutions that curate and store them do so on a long-term loan basis, subject to recall at any time; and

Whereas, the National Park Service policy concerns biologists and institutions because it jeopardizes the integrity of research collections; and

Whereas, this policy is a deterrent to biological collecting in the National Parks in that many institutions have policies against long-term loans; and

Whereas, this policy is a deterrent to biological collecting in the National Parks because researchers and institutions are reluctant to devote significant time, expertise, and funding to the collection of biological specimens that will not become part of the permanent collection; and

Whereas, few National Parks have the expertise and facilities to properly identify and curate these specimens;

Therefore be it resolved that the Cooper Ornithological Society calls upon the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service to develop a policy that allows unrestricted transfer and permanent retention of biological specimens by accredited institutions, of biological specimens collected on National Park Service property.