Program Meeting Tuesday May 23, 7pm — Tufted Puffins

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For our May program, Carina Kusaka, a graduate student at Oregon State University, will give a presentation on the focus of her master’s degree: researching Tufted Puffins on the Oregon Coast. Using a combination of field-collected data and aerial photographs taken over the past 30 years, she conducted spatial analyses to examine changes in suitable breeding habitat over time. She related these changes to climate and environment. Her research will offer better information for land managers on which actions will be most effective in conserving the population of Tufted Puffins on Oregon’s coast. In the hopes of prioritizing outreach and education efforts, she is also writing and illustrating a children’s book, using Tufted Puffins as a flagship species to catalyze excitement about coastal ecology conservation.

Originally from Hawai’i, Carina Kusaka received a B.S. in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from Colorado State University, where she studied behavioral and movement ecology of reptiles. Her graduate research at Oregon State University has focused on the Tufted Puffin, partially due to its designation as one of the Species of Greatest Conservation Need along the Oregon Coast.

Gather for the Lane County Audubon Society (LCAS) meeting at the Campbell Community Center (155 High) at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, May 23. The program meeting will also be available on Zoom.