Annual Conference Awards Banquet

January 28, 2015

Description of Awards

Awards Committee Chair: Richard Burg, CA Department of Fish & Wildlife

Booklet Design by Cynthia Perrine

Printed by Ascent Environmental

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Table of Contents

James D. Yoakum Award for Outstanding Service Description Page 2 Awarded to Page 3 Raymond Dasmann Award for Professional of the Year Description Page 4 Awarded to Page 5 Conservationist of the Year Description Page 6 Awarded to Page 7 TWS Distinguished Service Description Page 8 Awarded to Page 9 Chapter of the Year Description Page 10 Awarded to Page 11 Western Section Executive Board – 2014 Members Officers Page 12 Committee Chairs Page 13

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James D. Yoakum Award

The James D. Yoakum award for Outstanding Service recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding, long-term service, support, and commitment to the Western Section of The Wildlife Society. The purpose of the award is to honor those individuals who have dedicated a substantial amount of time, energy, and personal sacrifice to furthering the Section's goals and facilitating its programs and operations.

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Rhys’ contributions to Western Section are well known -- Public Information Committee Chair 2001- 2004, President 2009, Professional Development Committee Chair 2004-2014. Many of you know him as our “Sergeant of Arms” or selling raffle tickets, from Section-wide Certification workshops, pre-conference symposia and workshops, or as a volunteer chef at field workshops. He contributes time annually to TWS Quiz Bowl, and creates challenges among chapters co-sponsored Annual Conference fundraising support. His service is not always employer underwritten -- he is a civilian biologist currently working with the U.S. Air Force. He was instrumental in starting a Military Lands Working Group within The Wildlife Society, officially incorporated in 2014. Rhys is a Certified Wildlife Biologist. He remains a member of the Professional Development Committee, though he’s relinquished his chairmanship and vote. We hope his new-found free time finds him literally riding a few new roller-coasters.

Congratulations Rhys!

Rhys M. Evans

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TWS Distinguished Service is designed to recognize TWS members who have made a long-term commitment to the Society based on membership longevity and TWS service. The member is someone who is/was “always there” and could be counted on to serve the chapter, section, or international organization. The award recognizes individuals who have worked throughout their careers in a variety of ways to further the mission of the Society.

TWS Distinguished Service

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TWS recognizes Bradley Valentine citing 30 years of Western Section service that includes Transaction Editor, Secretary/Treasurer, Past-President (without having been elected President!) Chapter Representative (San Francisco Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley), and Western Section Representative to TWS Council. Brad is a Certified Wildlife Biologist. In addition Brad has received both the Raymond F. Dasmann and James D. Yoakum Awards -- the latter for outstanding, long-term service, support, and commitment to the Western Section. Brad remains a tremendous resource to the Section, attending TWS-WS annual conference each year, often judging student presentations and serving on the annual conference planning team. Even more impressive, he has attended nearly all Business Meetings - something that surely deserves special recognition by itself!

Bradley Valentine

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The Conservationist of the Year Award is presented by the Western Section to a person or group, engaged in wildlife conservation either as a profession or as an avocation, who has made an outstanding contribution to wildlife conservation in California, Nevada, Hawaii or Guam. The nominee can be any individual or group who has demonstrated an active concern for wildlife conservation by accomplishing projects or programs that have significantly enhanced wildlife resource conservation within the Western Section geographical area.

Conservationist of the Year Award

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The Nature Conservancy, founded in 1951, is the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. They address the most pressing conservation threats at the largest scale with a membership of over one million. They have protected more than 119 million acres of land and thousands of miles of rivers worldwide including 1.5 million acres in California and >200,000 acres in Hawaii. They are also working in Nevada to protect and restore both the Truckee and Walker River watersheds as well as forging numerous partnerships to find conservation solutions throughout the Western Section’s geographic range.

Waterfall at Skunk Creek in the Angelo Reserve. TNC’s first acquisition in CA (3,100 acres in 1959)

occurred here at the Angelo Coast Range Reserve.

The Nature Conservancy

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The "Dasmann Award" is presented by the Western Section to Professionals who have made an outstanding contribution to wildlife resources management and understanding in California, Nevada, Hawaii or Guam. Qualifications of Nominee: The nominee can be any member(s) of the Wildlife Society-Western Section, who develops, applies, administers or completes an especially significant program of management, education, research or communications that results in an outstanding contribution to wildlife resources in the Western Section.

Raymond F. Dasmann Award for the

Professional of the Year

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Howard is a Certified Wildlife Biologist with nearly 20 years of professional wildlife and research experience. His work as a researcher focuses on the ecosystems of Northern and Central California, the Mojave Desert, the Bay Area, and includes extensive baseline mammalian inventories, surveys focused on rare animals, habitat assessment, radio telemetry, and long-term ecological studies on several endangered species. He regularly works with the western burrowing owl, San Joaquin kit fox, giant kangaroo rat, salt marsh harvest mouse, and the Mohave ground squirrel. He is a peer-reviewer for the journals California Fish and Game and The Canadian Field-Naturalist and has reviewed manuscripts for Western North American Naturalist, Mammalian Biology, African Journal of Food Science, and Cities and the Environment. He was also instrumental in launching Western Wildlife, the Western Section’s revised, peer-reviewed technical journal.

Howard O. Clark Jr.

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The Chapter of the Year Award is awarded to the Chapter and its members that achieved the most toward promoting wildlife conservation and responsible wildlife management in the Western Section region. Qualifications of Nominee: The nominee must be a Chapter of The Western Section whose members as a whole contributed towards achieving the goals of The Western Section. This can include hosting wildlife training workshops to promote professional development, supporting wildlife students, or initiating and supporting conservation projects.

Chapter of the Year Award

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San Francisco Bay Area Chapter

2014 marks another outstanding year for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. As their Board grew, so too did the ideas and opportunities to engage their membership in new directions. They continued to offer a diversity of activities that facilitated social networking, professional development, Student and community outreach including numerous mixers, field trips, and workshops. They also hosted the first annual Gourmet Greens and Beasts Feast with the local CNPS Chapter which mingled wildlife biologists with botanists.

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2014 TWS Western Section Board Members

Elected Officers

President Natasha Dvorak, Swaim and Associates

Past-President Doug Bell, East Bay Regional Park District

President-Elect Don Yasuda, CWB, U.S. Forest Service

Section Representative Cynthia Perrine

Appointed Officers

Treasurer John McNerney, City of Davis

Secretary Janae Scruggs, CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

Western Wildlife Bridget Souza, H.T. Harvey & Associates

Newsletter Editor Debra Hawk, PG&E

Chapter Representatives

California Central Coast Wendy Knight, Pacific Coast Ecology

California North Coast Lisa Ollivier, U.S. Forest Service

Hawaii Rachel Sprague, NOAA - Nat’l Marine Fisheries

Nevada Mackenzie Jeffress, CWB, Nevada Dept. of Wildlife

Sacramento-Shasta Hal Holland, Westervelt Ecological Services

San Francisco Bay Area Matthew Bettelheim, CWB, URS Corporation, Inc.

San Joaquin Valley Jeff Davis Colibri Ecological Consulting

Southern California Jeff Lincer, Researchers Implementing Conservation Action

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2014 TWS Western Section Board Members - continued

Cal Poly SLO Student Chapter Brooke Wainwright

Humboldt State Student Chapter Andrew Wiegardt

UC Davis Student Chapter Janette Perez Jimenez

UCSB Student Chapter Katelyn Pilcher

San Francisco State Student Chapter Natalie Greer

University of Nevada, Reno Student Chapter Olivia Baez

Committee Chairs

Awards and Grants Richard Burg, CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

Conservation Affairs Erin Aquino-Carhart, CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

Membership Don Yasuda, CWB, U.S. Forest Service

Professional Development Rhys Evans, CWB, Vandenberg Air Force Base

Jessica Martini-Lamb, Sonoma County Water Agency

Student Affairs Mandi McElroy, URS Corporation, Inc.

David Wyatt, Sacramento City College

Contractors

Accountant Mike Chapel

Program Director Cynthia Perrine

Project Manager Candace Renger

Webmaster Eric Renger