Ospreys and What They Tell Us About the Environment

Presented By Erick Greene

Osprey – Photo Credit: John Winnie

The May 8, 2017 Flathead Audubon meeting will have a special program on Ospreys presented by Erick Greene, professor in the Division of Biological Sciences and the Wildlife Biology Program. His program will provide interesting information about these amazing fishing raptors that are found on every continent except the Antarctic. Their natural history, ecology and behavior is fascinating and they have many adaptations for their unique role as fishing raptors. This talk will be a broad overview of some very neat Osprey biology, as well as providing details about how Ospreys have been important environmental sentinels for over 50 years.

Erick Greene dropped out of high school and lived for a year in the Galapagos Islands, helping out on studies on Darwin’s Finches. He then worked on seabirds 800 miles north of the Arctic Circle with the Canadian Wildlife Service. He returned for undergraduate studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he studied biology, music and mathematics. He worked on Ospreys in Nova Scotia for his undergraduate senior thesis. He then received a PhD from Princeton University. He has been able to come full circle and return to studying Ospreys in Montana. In addition to his research, Erick is passionate about teaching and public outreach. He has been awarded the Most Inspirational Teacher Award, the Distinguished Teacher of the University of Montana, The National Outstanding Teacher Award from the Mortar Board National Honor Society, The Tom Boone Town and Gown Award for public outreach, the UM Teaching Across the Curriculum Award, and the Arnold Bolle Award for Lifetime Achievement in Conservation.

This program will be part our special May meeting which includes a potluck, some business items, and a silent auction. The event will be held at the Whitefish Community Center at 121 Second Street in Whitefish. Doors open at 5pm with a potluck dinner at 6pm. The meeting begins at 7pm. Flathead Audubon takes a recess from monthly meetings over the summer and reconvenes again in September.