Symposium Speakers

Name: Dr. Don Brightsmith, Ph.D.

Professional Address:

Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, Mail Stop 4467, College Station, TX 77843-4467

Professional Experience

Lecturer in Avian Conservation, Schubot Exotic Bird Health Center, Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, 2006 to present

Consultant, Indonesian Parrot Project, 2005 to present

Research Director and Macaw Project Director, Rainforest Expeditions, Peru, 1999 to present

Research Associate, Department of Biology, Duke University, 1999 – 2006

Instructor Organization for Tropical Studies undergraduate summer program 1999 – 2002

Education

1999 Ph.D. in Zoology, Duke University.

1993 MS in Wildlife Ecology, University of Arizona.

1990 BS in Natural Resources with honors and distinction, Cornell University.

1989 Oxford University, England, visiting student in Zoology.

Research Interests

Ecology, conservation, and diseases of psittacines

Geophagy: The behavior, physiology and consequences soil consumption

Area requirements and landscape level movements of Amazonian wildlife

Avian natural history evolution

Professional Publications

Tobias, J. A. and D. J. Brightsmith. In press. September 2006. Re-evaluating the conservation status of the Blue-headed Macaw Primolius couloni: Red List recommendations. Oecologia.

Matuzak, G. and D. J. Brightsmith. In press. Yellow-naped Parrot roost counts in Costa Rica: estimating the size and reproduction of threatened populations. Journal of Field Ornithology.

Brightsmith, D. J. and A. Bravo. 2006. Ecology and management of nesting Blue-and-yellow Macaws (Ara ararauna) in Mauritia palm swamps. Biodiversity and Conservation. 15:4271-4287.

Brightsmith, D. J. 2005. Parrot nesting in southeastern Peru: seasonal patterns and keystone trees. Wilson Bulletin 117: 296-305.

Brightsmith, D. J. 2005. Competition, predation and nest niche shifts among tropical cavity nesters: phylogeny and natural history evolution of parrots (Psittaciformes) and trogons (Trogoniformes). Journal of Avian Biology. 36: 64-73.

Brightsmith, D. J. 2005. Competition, predation and nest niche shifts among cavity-nesting parrots and trogons: ecological evidence. Journal of Avian Biology. 36: 74-83.

Brightsmith, D. J., J. Hillburn, A. del Campo, J. Boyd, M. Friesius, R. Friesius, Janik, D. and Guillen, F. 2005. The use of hand-raised psittacines in reintroduction projects: a case study of Scarlet Macaws in Peru and Costa Rica. Biological Conservation. 121:465-472.

Brightsmith, D. J. and R. Aramburú. 2004. Avian geophagy in se Peru: the roles of toxin neutralization and mineral supplementation in soil choice. Biotropica 36: 534-543.

Brightsmith, D. J. 2004. Effects of weather on avian geophagy in Tambopata, Peru. Wilson Bulletin, 116: 134-145.

Brightsmith, D. J. 2004. Nest sites of termitarium nesting birds in se Peru. Neotropical Ornithology. 15:319-330.

Brightsmith, D. J. 2000. Use of arboreal termite mounds by nesting birds in the Peruvian Amazon. Condor 102: 529-538.

Brightsmith, D. J. 1999. Los roles de la competencia y depredación en los nichos deifferentes de anidación: evidencia de los nidos termiteros de loros y trogones. Anales de la III Jornada Nacional de Ornotología Calca. Agosto 1999, Cuzco, Peru. 62-63.

Brightsmith, D. J. 1999. Book review: Handbook of the birds of the world. The Auk 116:1159-1160.

Brightsmith, D. J. 1999. Book review: Parrots a guide to parrots of the world. The Auk 116: 868-870.

Brightsmith, D. J. 1999. The roles of predation and competition in nest niche differentiation: evidence from termitarium nesting parrots and trogons. Ph.D. dissertation. Duke University, Department of Zoology, Durham NC.

Brightsmith, D. J. 1999. White-winged Parakeet (Brotogeris versicolurus) and Yellow-chevroned Parakeet (Brotogeris chiriri). In Birds of North America, No. 386-387 (a. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Miller, B., R. Reading, J. Strittholt, C. Carroll, R. Noss, M. Soulé, O. Sánchez, J. Terborgh, D. Brightsmith, T. Cheeseman, and D. Foreman. 1998. Using Focal Species in the Design of Nature Reserve Networks. Wild Earth 8(4):81-92.

Cortner, H. J., M. N. Jensen, and D. J. Bright-Smith. 1995. Evaluating Forest Policies in the United States: Components of the Process and a Case Example. In Solberg, B. and P. Pelli (eds.) Forest Policy Analysis--Methodological and Empirical Aspects. EFI Proceedings 2:5-20.

*Bright-Smith, D. J. and R. W. Mannan. 1994. Habitat characteristics of male northern goshawks on the Kaibab Plateau. Studies in Avian Biology 16:58-65.

*Bright-Smith, D. J. 1994. Habitat use by breeding male northern goshawks in northern Arizona. MS Thesis, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.

*Smith, D. J. and C.R. Smith. 1992. Henslow's sparrow and grasshopper sparrow: a comparison of habitat use on Finger Lakes National Forest, New York. Bird Observer 20:187-194.

*Smith, D. J. 1991. Winter Bird Population Studies: 5. Isolated Beech-maple Woods. J. Field Ornithology 62(1 supp.):10.

*Note name changes.

Teaching Experience

July 04 Research Experience for Faculty, Mentor and Facilitator, Organization for Tropical Studies

June 99 – 02 Tropical Ecology, Instructor, Duke University and the Organization for Tropical Studies, Undergraduate Program

Nov 02 – 04 Introduction to Biology for Future Guides from the Native Community of Infierno, Instructor, (in Spanish)

Feb 00 – 05 Rainforest Expeditions Guide and Investigator Course, Ecology Instructor, (in Spanish)

Aug 00 Biodiversity, Graduate Course Instructor, Organization for Tropical Studies

Jan 99 Tropical Ecology, Teaching Assistant, Duke University

Oct 98 + 94 Introductory Ecology, Teaching Assistant, Duke University

Jan 98 + ‘97 Animal Physiology, Teaching Assistant, Duke University

Jan 95 + ‘96 Introductory Biology, Teaching Assistant, Duke University

Jan 90 Bird Biology and Conservation, Teaching Assistant, Cornell University

Professional service

2005 - present Scientific Advisory Board Member, Parrots International, a US based NGO dedicated to the conservation of parrots in the wild

2005 - present Scientific Advisor, Large Macaw Reintroduction and Conservation Project in Iguaçu, Brazil

2005 - present Member Lear’s Macaw Conservation Advisory Group, Brazil

2005 VI Peruvian National Ornithological Congress, Scientific Committee Member

2005 1^st Mesoamerican Parrot Symposium, Organizing Committee Member

03 – 06 Academic Committees:

Guiselle Monge (Ph. D degree), Universidad Nacional, San José, Costa Rica

Alan Lee (MSc degree), Manchester Metropolitan University

Roberto Elias (M. S.), Universidad Peruano Cayetano de Heredia, Lima, Peru

Gabriela Vigo (professional thesis), Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru

Daphne Matsafuji (professional thesis), Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru

Karina Quinteros (professional thesis), Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru

Oscar Butron (professional thesis), Universidad Peruano Cayetano de Heredia, Lima, Peru

03 – 05 Scientific Reviewer: National Science Foundation, Condor an International Journal of Ornithology, Neotropical Ornithology, Princeton University Press, South African Science Foundation, and the Journal of Zoology

Grants and Fellowships

10/05 Sea World Busch Gardens Conservation Award

2000 - 2005 Center for Field Studies and the EarthWatch Institute

3/05 South Lakes Wildlife Trust conservation grant

2/01 Conservation, Food and Health Foundation

6/00 Tambopata Research Society

5/00 Pukara Magazine

93,98-00,02 Conservation Research Grant, Raleigh-Durham Caged Bird Society

10/99 Research Grant, Aviculture Society of Tucson

3/98 - 3/95 The Rotary Club of West Hempstead and L.I. District

5/97, 5/95 Duke University Graduate School Dissertation travel award

5/97, 5/95 Duke/UNC Latin American Studies Travel Grant

5/96 - 8/93 James B. Duke Memorial Fellowship, Duke University Graduate School

8/95 National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant

5/95 Explorers Club Exploration Grant

5/95 Chapman Fund Grant, American Museum of Natural History

4/91, 4/92 Research Grant: Habitat use by N. Goshawks, USDA Forest Service

4/90 National Science Foundation Graduate Student Fellowship

Dr. Nigel Collar PhD., UK

Name: Dr. Nigel Collar PhD.

Professional Address:

BirdLife International,Wellbrook Court
Girton Road,Cambridge
CB3 0NA, UK

Academic Degrees

Current activities

Senior Research Associate, Cambridge University Dept of Zoology, the Conservation Sciences Group. Nigel Collar has worked with Bird Life International since 1981 and has consulted in the Bird Life International Red List of endangered parrot species.Throughout his 25 years with BirdLife, he has worked on the documentation and conservation of threatened birds, writing the international Red Data Book, which so far has resulted in three large volumes, for Africa, the Americas and Asia. He has served BirdLife as Director of Science, Director of Development and Deputy Director, and now works as Leventis Fellow in Conservation Biology, a position part-shared with Cambridge University. He currently has PhD students in Cambodia and the Philippines, but his research interests extend to all tropical areas where threatened birds are in need of study. His particular interest in parrots stems from the time 10 years ago when he was asked to contribute the parrot family to the “Handbook of the Birds of the World”.

Olivier Chassot, Costa Rica

Name: Olivier Chassot

Professional Address:

Tropical Science Center

PO Box 8-3870-1000, San José, Costa Rica

Academic Degrees

1991-1994 Université de Lausanne, Switzerland

1994-1995 Université de Paris IV, La Sorbonne, France

Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris, France

1995-1997 Université de Lausanne, Switzerland

BA in History, Ancient History, French Language and Literature, cum laude

2003-2005 Universidad para la Cooperación Internacional (UCI), San José, Costa Rica

MA in Project Management, with honor

Dissertation: Project Management Methodology Applied to Environmental Management: a Study Case of the San Juan-La Selva Biological Corridor

since 2005 Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica / Universidad Nacional Estatal a Distancia /Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica

PhD in Natural Sciences for Development

Dissertation: Design of a functional conservation landscape for the lower San Juan River watershed’s protected area

Current activities

Research Program Coordinator at the Tropical Science Center (Costa Rica). Director of the Great Green Macaw Research and Conservation Project, Coordinator of the Executive Committee of the San Juan-La Selva Biological Corridor, Board of Directors of the Foundation for Participatory Environmental Management, Coordinator of the Mesoamerican Parrot Conservation Network, Chair of the Mesoamerican Society for Conservation Biology, Member of the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA-IUCN).

Professional Publications

2000-2006 55 papers, books and proceedings published or edited since 2000.

More than 70 papers and communications presented at international congresses and workshops

Dr. Susan Friedman PhD., Utah State University

Name: Dr. Susan Friedman PhD., Utah State University

Professional Address: Department of Psychology at Utah State University

Current activities

Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D., is currently a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. A Behaviorist for more than 30 years, her area of expertise is learning and behavior with a special emphasis on children’s behavior disorders. Over the last decade, Susan has helped pioneer efforts to apply to animals the humane philosophy and scientifically sound teaching technology from the field of Applied Behavior Analysis that has been so effective with human learners. The guiding principle of this approach is a hierarchy of teaching interventions starting with the most positive, least intrusive, effective behavior solutions.

Susan is a steadfast proponent of changing behavior through facilitation rather than force. These tools of facilitation focus on animals’ extraordinary biologic capacity to learn by interacting with their environment. She teaches that by changing the environment for success, animals learn to behave successfully. Susan currently teaches Living and Learning with Parrots: The Fundamental Principles of Behavior to online and live workshop students several times a year to caregivers (see www.behaviorworks.org) and veterinarians and other animal professionals (www.llp-tele.com).

Susan is the first author on two recently completed chapters on learning and behavior for two new avian veterinary texts (Harrison and Lightfoot’s Clinical Avian Medicine and Luescher’s Manual of Parrot Behavior) and a frequent contributor to Good Bird Magazine. Her articles can be found at www.thegabrielfoundation.org/html/friedman.htm She has presented at a wide variety of professional conferences including the Association of Avian Veterinarians, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, and the American Federation of Aviculturists, as well as many national bird clubs and symposia. This year she was a guest speaker on the topic of learning and behavior for NASA, at the Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Colloquium. Susan is a core member of the California Condor Recovery Team and takes every opportunity to work with companion animal caregivers, veterinarians, animal trainers and zookeepers to empower and enrich the lives of all learners. Foremost in this interdisciplinary effort is her passion for and commitment to working with companion parrots and their caregivers.

Neiva Guedes, Brazil

Name: Neiva Maria Robaldo Guedes

Professional Address:
Presidente do Instituto Arara Azul
Coordenadora do Projeto Arara Azul/UNIDERP
Doutoranda em Zoologia pela UNESP/Botucatu

Academic Degrees

Current activities

Director of Projeto Arara Azul, the Hyacinth Macaw Project, the Pantanal, Brazil (the flagship parrot conservation project to save the world's largest parrot). Ms. Guedes is a professor at the UNIDERP, Brazil and is president of Instituto Arara Azul

The Hyacinth Macaw Project, started over 10 years ago by biologist Neiva Guedes, has the objective of promoting the conservation of the hyacinth macaw in Nature, while disseminating the importance of conserving the biodiversity of the Pantanal Wetlands region and mobilizing the local population in favor of the region's conservation. The project includes the monitoring of macaws in nature, the monitoring of artificial and natural nests in a 400,000 hectares area, and working with local landowners for protecting the species.

Bennett Hennessey, Boliva

Name: Bennett Hennessey

A. Bennett Hennessey was born in Quebec City, Canada. At the University of Toronto he completed a customized zoology/environmental science degree (before a conservation biology degree existed). He visited Bolivia for a month in the rainforest, and then worked on conservation projects in the Republic of the Congo for a year. In 1995 Bennett decided to live in Bolivia on a long-term basis to continue his bird research and conservation activities. He has been involved in over 25 ornithological expeditions within all the main habitat types in Bolivia: Rainforest, Yungas forest, Grasslands and Dry forest and has completed species specific research of such threatened species as Wattled and Southern-horned Curassow, Blue-throated Macaw, Red-fronted Macaw, Military Macaw, Bolivian Recurvebill, Yungas Antwren, Ash-breasted Tit-Tyrant, Bolivian and Brazilian Swallow-tailed Cotingas and Scimitar-winged Piha. He has archived over 1300 sound recordings at Cornell Bird Lab's Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds. Bennett is the first author of the Annotated List of the Birds of Bolivian (2003). He became the executive director of the Bolivian Bird Conservation NGO Armonía/ BirdLife International in 2002 which has grown in three years from 2 conservation projects and 3 employees to 15 Bolivian bird conservation programs with 30 Bolivian employees. He is also the director of BirdLife's South American Threatened Bird program, which supports on-ground conservation actions and trains new conservationists in South America.

Dr. Frank Lavac, DVM, California

Name: Dr. Frank Lavac, DVM.

Professional Address:

Wilshire Animal Hospital

2421 Wilshire Blvd.

Santa Monica, CA 90403

Academic Degrees

A Board certified Avian specialty Veterinarian with a private practice in Santa Monica, CA.

Colorado State University:
       B.S. with distinction, Microbiology, 1974
       M.S. Microbiology, 1977
       D.V.M. 1980
Internship in small animal medicine and surgery in West Los Angeles, CA. 1980-81.
Avian Diplomate, American Board of Veterinary Practitioners, 1994; recertified 2004.
Phi Beta Kappa

Current activities

Medical Director, Wilshire Animal Hospital, AAHA certified, Santa Monica, CA.
Avian and Exotic lectures at the Western Veterinary Conference, American Animal Association meetings, North American Veterinary Conference, Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, International Emergency Veterinarian Clinicians Conference and numerous local veterinary and aviculture groups.

Rosemary Low, UK

Name: Rosemary Low

Biography

Rosemary Low started her birdkeeping activities with Budgerigars. Her first parrot arrived when she was 16, a Grey. Between the ages of 20 and 30 she started to keep neotropical parrots and lories and lorikeets. During nearly eight years in the Canary Islands she was curator of two of the world’s largest parrot collections, Loro Parque in Tenerife and Palmitos Park in Gran Canaria. She now lives in the UK with her wonderful lories and lorikeets.

Rosemary Low has published hundreds of articles in magazines in many countries. She has had more than 20 books published on parrots, including Parrots their care and breeding (three editions and three languages), Endangered Parrots, Encyclopedia of the Lories, Why does my Parrot …?, Cockatoos in Aviculture and Amazon Parrots: Aviculture, trade and conservation. Her books have been translated into German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch and the Czech language. Her latest book is A Century of Parrots (the history of parrots in the 20^th century).

In 1989 she was a co-founder of The World Parrot Trust and edited its magazine, PsittaScene, from its inception that year until 2004. Her interest in conservation, fund-raising for conservation projects and in the welfare of captive parrots has long overtaken that of breeding in captivity. She no longer breeds parrots (keeping them solely for pleasure), as she has no wish to add to the numbers in captivity. Through her writings and through a local parrot club that she founded in 2000 she does her utmost to give guidance to people on keeping their parrots happy and healthy.

She has travelled widely, speaking at conventions in many countries and at four of the six Loro Parque Conventions. She has observed over 100 species of parrots in the wild in more than 30 countries. Watching birds in their natural habitat, from the critically endangered Kakapo in New Zealand to tiny Pygmy Parrots in New Guinea, and the world’s largest parrot colony in Argentina, is her greatest thrill. Her most satisfying moment: January 12 2007 when the news came that a permanent ban had been placed on the importation of wild-caught birds into EU countries.

Dr. Donald Merton, PhD., New Zealand

Name: Dr. Donald Merton, PhD.

Current activities & contributions

Prior to his retirement in April 2005, Don Merton was a senior member of the New Zealand Department of Conservation’s Threatened Species Section, within the Research, Development & Improvement DivisionTerrestrial Conservation Unit, and of the Kakapo Management Group. He has had a life-long interest and involvement in wildlife conservation having specialised in the management of endangered species since completion of a traineeship with the New Zealand Wildlife Service (NZWS) in 1960. A pioneer in the management of New Zealand’s sadly swollen list of threatened animals, Don is known for his key role in the rescue and recovery of some of his country’s - and the world’s - most endangered birds.

Contributions include:

Together with NZWS colleagues and volunteers, pioneered capture and translocation techniques as management tools in the rescue and recovery of endangered birds: In the early 1960’s Don led some of the first successful translocations for conservation purposes involving New Zealand birds – including establishment of a second population of the North Island saddleback, and averting extinction of the South Island saddleback. Techniques pioneered then are now an everyday part of threatened species management within NZ and beyond;

- with NZWS colleagues and volunteers, pioneered “close order management” (COM) as a means of averting extinction; sustaining in the wild; &/or facilitating recovery of critically endangered species. COM involves intensive management of free-living animals at the individual rather than population level. The concept and techniques were developed and applied with outstanding success during the rescue and recovery of the black robin which Don led in the 1980’s. Refined and adapted over the years, close order management techniques pioneered then are now an integral part of threatened species recovery programmes internationally.

- helped pioneer island biodiversity conservation & restoration techniques. For instance, in the early 1960’s he and Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society volunteers eradicated Norway rats from four small islands in the Noises group, Hauraki Gulf. This was the first time that rats had been deliberately eradicated from a New Zealand island, and opened the way for ecological restoration of these – and countless other islands both within New Zealand and beyond;

- led the NZWS field teams that re-discovered the kakapo parrot (in Fiordland) in 1974, and females of this species (on Stewart Island) in 1980. Females had not been seen since the early 1900’s & it was feared they may have been extinct – & thus the species “functionally extinct”;

- discovered & documented the significance of the ritualised, nocturnal booming display of the Kakapo - it is in fact an unusual form of courtship display known as “lekking”;

- instrumental in averting imminent extinction of Kakapo (an endemic, monotypic sub-family): In the early 1980’s, together with NZWS colleagues;

(i) determined that the newly re-discovered Kakapo population of southern Stewart Island was in steep decline due to predation by feral cats (>50% mortality per annum of marked adults!);

(ii) alerted NZWS, drafted submissions & obtained agreement from the various government & other agencies to relocate (& thus effectively destroy) the last natural population; and,

(iii) as NZWS’s Principal Wildlife Officer (Endangered Species), assumed responsibility for planning & leading the capture & relocation of the remaining (61) birds to Little Barrier, Maud & Codfish Islands. This bold action proved spectacularly successful - the steep decline in Kakapo numbers was halted & adult mortality since (~24 years) has averaged a remarkably low ~1.3% per year!

- led the field project and devised the techniques necessary to capture, hold in captivity, transport and establish a second population of the endangered and highly localised Noisy scrub-bird of Western Australia. The second population is now by far the larger of the two;

- during the 1980s helped devise and implement a recovery strategy for the critically-endangered Echo parakeet of Mauritius (Indian Ocean). Only ~8 birds including three females were known to exist at that time. There are now more than 300;

- also during the 1980’s, devised and led the successful eradication of rabbits from Round Island, Mauritius (Indian Ocean) - Round Island was said to support more threatened animal and plant forms than any comparable area on Earth, but survival of these was seriously threatened by the rabbits;

- instrumental in the designation of a national park within the Australian Territory of Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) to facilitate the survival of Abbott’s booby (largest and most endangered gannet) and a unique raised tropical island ecosystem - while seconded for two years to the Australian National Parks & Wildlife Service as its first Conservator on Christmas Island;

- played a key role in the rescue and recovery of the magpie robin and other animals endemic to the Seychelles Islands (Indian Ocean): In 1990 - 1992, in collaboration with Birdlife International staff, designed and implemented an effective recovery strategy and range of management techniques for the critically-endangered Seychelles magpie robin, the last ~20 individuals of which were confined to 219ha Fregate Island. Then, in 1995 when Norway rats reached Fregate Island, (final refuge of the last natural population of Seychelles magpie robin and a number of other vulnerable endemic life forms), alerted the island’s owner, and local and international conservation agencies to the fact that without intervention ecological collapse and extinctions were inevitable. Worked with stake-holders and by 1999 convinced all that eradication was both necessary and practicable. At their request planned, and in 2000 led a successful rodent eradication – thus averting extinctions and facilitating ecological recovery.

- authored or co-authored over 145 publications, including books, peer-reviewed scientific papers, popular articles & technical reports – so sharing knowledge & techniques with others. .

In New Zealand Don is best known for his role in the rescue of the South Island saddleback when in the early 1960’s Rats Rattus rattus invaded its final refuge - Big South Cape Island; for facilitating recovery in the North Island saddleback, confined in the early 1960’s to a single island (Taranga/Hen Island); for his role, since 1974, in developing the rescue strategy and techniques, and for his leading role in the rescue & recovery programme for the giant, flightless kakapo parrot; and for devising the rescue strategy and leading the successful recovery of the Chatham Islands black robin when in the late 1970s its numbers fell to just five individuals - including only one effective breeding pair. By the late 1990’s the black robin species numbered ~250 individuals.

Don was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1973 to study management of endangered species in the USA and Europe. He was the international chairperson of IUCN/Birdlife International’s Parrot Specialist Group from 1983-86. In 1989 he was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for services to New Zealand; in the following year he received the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Fleming Award for Environmental Achievement; in 1992 the honorary degree of Doctor of Science was conferred on him by Massey University for his contribution to science; in 1994 the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (UK) awarded him its medal for his “international contribution to species survival” and in 1998 the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) elected him to its Global 500 Roll of Honour for his “outstanding contributions to the protection and improvement of the environment.” Don was named one of “100 Great New Zealanders of the 20^th Century” in the 60^thanniversary issue of the New Zealand Listener; 169 (3086); 16 – 21: 3–9 July 1999; in 2001 the New Zealand Government presented him with a certificate commemorating the United Nations International Year of the Volunteer 2001, for his “valued contribution toward assisting developing countries to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development”; in 2004, BirdLife International awarded him its Conservation Achievement Award for achievements during his 48 year career in the rescue and recovery of endangered birds within New Zealand and elsewhere; and, on his retirement from the NZ Department of Conservation in April 2005 the Department granted him Honorary Technical Associate status – the first such recipient.

Dr. Paul Salaman PhD., USA

Name: Dr. Paul Salaman PhD.

Professional Address:

Director of International Programs

American Bird Conservancy

P.O. Box 249, 4249 Loudoun Ave.

The Plains, VA 20198

Academic Degrees

PhD at the University of Oxford

Current activities

Paul Salaman was born in Australia in 1971 where he started birding at the age of six, before moving to the UK from where he became an active birder traveling across the country in search of migrants and rare species. In 1979, Paul met David Attenborough and enthused by conservation and natural history and from the age of 14 managed a local nature reserve. At 17, Paul started intensive two year training in banding birds, which he later used extensively in surveys and studies in South America. In 1990, Paul traveled birding through southeast Asia, Australasia and USA for six months, which set the scene for his interest in international ornithology and conservation. As an undergraduate in 1991, Paul commenced a series of expeditions across Colombia, which culminated in eight biodiversity assessment expeditions and over three years field experience. In 1991, he discovered a distinctive new species of bird (Vireo) to science and sold the scientific name as an innovative species sponsoring initiative for seeking conservation funds. In 1992, Paul established a nature reserve in southwest Colombia. In 1995, Paul commenced a PhD at the University of Oxford studying threatened bird populations in southwest Colombia. Paul undertook a post-doc at the Natural History Museum and Conservation International from 2002, establishing Project BioMap, before coordinating biodiversity science for Conservation International across the Tropical Andes. In 2005, Paul joined American Bird Conservancy as Director of International Programs. In 1998, Paul commenced Project Ognorhynchus to locate and protect the Critically Endangered Yellow-eared Parrot. With notably project successes the project team established Fundación ProAves Colombia, which is now a thriving national NGO with 65 staff and over 20 projects protecting threatened bird species across Colombia. Paul helped ProAves’ works on nine threatened parrot species and establishment of ten nature reserves.

Yves de Soye, Spain

Name: Yves de Soye

Professional Address:

Yves de Soye, MSc, MBA,

Programme Officer – Climate Change and Biodiversity in EU Overseas Territories

IUCN — The World Conservation Union

Boulevard Louis Schmidt 64, 1040 Etterbeek (Bruxelles), Belgium

Academic Degrees

• Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA), Instituto de Empresa Business School, Madrid,

Spain, September 2004 - July 2005.

• B. Sc. & M. Sc. in Biological Science “with excellence”, University of Bonn, Germany, and University

of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, October 1988 - June 1995.

• M. Sc. thesis: “Understorey bird communities in primary and secondary montane forests of

western Ecuador”, with six months of field work in Mindo, Ecuador, July - December 1994.

Current activities

Programme Officer – IUCN – The World Conservation Union - Climate change and biodiversity in EU overseas territories. Based at the Regional Office for Europe (ROfE), Brussels.

A tropical ecologist and conservationist with more than 10 years experience working across all tropical regions. From 1998 to 2003 he was the Director of Loro Parque Fundación, a leading parrot conservation organization and owner of the world’s largest parrot collection. He still is a board member of ProAves Colombia and a member of the Spix’s Macaw and Lear’s Macaw conservation committees of the Brazilian government. In 2005 Yves finished a Masters degree in Business Administration in Madrid and, after a one-year stint at BirdLife International in Cambridge, has recently joined The World Conservation Union—IUCN in Brussels as their Programme Officer for Climate Change and Biodiversity in European Overseas Regions and Territories. Yves' web site is at http://desoye.org.

Dr. Mark L. Stafford, DDS

Name: Dr. Mark L. Stafford, DDS

Professional Address:

Parrosts International

14339 Antioch Street #417

Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Academic Degrees

1975: BA Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

1975: BA Environmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara

1980: DDS. University of California, Los Angeles, Summa Cum Laude

Current activities

Dr. Mark Stafford is the founding director and president of Parrots International. Parrots International is a not for profit organization dedicated to the promoting and fostering international cooperation in the conservation of endangered parrot species. Parrots International works in cooperation with other conservation organizations, donors, field research teams, responsible aviculturists and parrot clubs to assist, propose, develop and fund conservation projects throughout the world. The basic premise of Parrots International is that "Conservation happens in the Wild."

Mark and his wife, Marie, have traveled extensively throughout Central and South America, and the Caribbean to view, photograph and film wild parrots. The goal of these trips has been to gain an understanding of the natural history of endangered parrot species, the environmental and human derived pressures relating to their endangered status, and to understand the possible steps that can be taken to bring these beautiful parrots back from the brink of extinction.

Dr Stafford has directed Parrots International to help fund research and conservation projects for the Hyacinth Macaws in Brazil; the Great Green Macaw in Costa Rica; the Lears Macaw in Bahia, Brazil; the Yellow Shouldered Amazon in Bonaire, the Bahama Amazon in Abaco, the Blue-fronted Amazon in the Chaco of Argentina, the Military Macaw in the Oaxaca State of Mexico, and the Puerto Rican Parrot, one of the ten rarest birds in the world. In addition Parrots International is involved in the land purchase, habitat restoration and the future release of the Spix’s Macaw back into the wild. In 2006 Mark and Marie received recognition at the US Capital LBJ Room by the head of the US Fish and Wildlife Service for their assistance with the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Project. Dr. Stafford, and Parrots International, is a member of the Committee for the Management and Conservation of the Hyacinth Macaw, as well as a consultant for the Committee for the Management and Conservation of the Lear’s Macaw and the Spix’s Macaw Working Group.

Dr. Darrel Styles, DVM., Ph.D.

Name: Dr. Darrel Styles, DVM., Ph.D.

Professional Address:

Veterinary Medical Officer

USDA APHIS

4700 River Road, Unit 84

Riverdale, MD 20737

Academic Degrees

Current activities

Dr. Styles is an expert in avian infectious and metabolic diseases and their molecular etiology; avicultural science and husbandry; and wild bird conservation and management with respect to disease control and captive rearing programs.

Dr. David Waugh, Ph.D.

Name: Dr. David Waugh, Ph.D.

Academic Degrees

1978: Ph.D. in Ecology, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK.

Subject of thesis: Breeding biology and feeding ecology of swallows (Hiundinidae) and swifts (Apodidae).

1973: Bachelor degree in Zoology, University College of Swansea, Wales, UK.

Professional Address:

Director, Loro Parque Fundación

Environmental Advisor/Asesor de Medio Ambiente, Loro Parque

38400 Puerto de la Cruz

Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain/España

David Waugh was born in England and has had a life-long passion for birds and nature. As a boy he kept common cage-birds, and spent more time watching birds in the wild, which evolved into university study of zoology and a doctorate about the breeding biology and ecology of birds. His studies continued in tropical Africa and south-east Asia, where the wonderful diversity of birds stimulated him to visit more than 80 countries in search of birds and to experience nature. He lived in Venezuela for some years, during which time he again became more involved with parrots and their conservation. This involvement continues to the present-day, as Director of the conservation projects and other activities of the Loro Parque Fundación in Tenerife, Spain, world leading organisation in parrot conservation and breeding. David has 26 years of professional involvement with the zoological community, previously being Director of the International Conservation Training Centre of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey, and Director of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. He represents Loro Parque on the Council of the Iberian Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and is an Honorary Member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.