RYAN PHILLIPS, Co-founder and Chair
Ryan Phillips has been a professional wildlife biologist since 2004 and has focused his work on avian ecology and conservation in California and Central America. Ryan received a B.Sc. in Wildlife, Conservation Biology and Fisheries with a specialization in Ornithology from the University of California at Davis and a M.Sc. in Environmental Studies at San Jose State University studying Neotropical raptor migration. He has been an Adjunct Instructor at De Anza College in the Environmental Studies Department since 2008, where he has taught a multitude of courses related to wildlife and environmental science. Ryan has worked with a wide variety of species, including non-avian species, focusing on their ecology and threats to assist with assessing their status and implementing conservation efforts. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles primarily related to bird ecology and is an expert and authority on Neotropical raptors. During his graduate research, he studied the migration of Hook-billed Kites in Belize and Mexico and how weather influenced this migration. This was the first time this migration had been described. Ryan is currently the Belize Hawk Watch Director with the Belize Bird Conservancy, a non-profit organization he co-founded in 2009. He has extensive experience conducting field research and surveys, implementing conservation strategies, managing various projects, report writing, grant writing, and fundraising. The various field research methods Ryan has experience with include point-count and transect surveys, sweep transects, pitfall traps, acoustic surveys, spot mapping, trapping using various types of traps, banding, radiotelemetry, and camera-trapping. Since 2016, Ryan has been part of a team of burrowing owl experts for the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, currently implementing Tier 3 conservation actions under the Habitat Plan, to manage and implement conservation strategies to save the Burrowing Owl from local extirpation, which includes overwintering juvenile burrowing owls in captivity and soft-releasing them the following spring, as well as a captive breeding program.
PHILIP HIGGINS,
Co-Founder and Treasurer
Philip Higgins has a B.S. and M.S. in Environmental Studies from San Jose State University, where he studied the diet of Burrowing Owls in the San Francisco Bay region for his thesis. He has been involved in research and conservation of Burrowing Owls since 2000 (over 20 years) with specific experience in banding, population demographic monitoring, habitat enhancement, and writing and implementing management and mitigation plans and agreements. Additionally, he has conducted research studies on harbor seals, terns, monarch butterflies, Congdon's tarplant, black skimmers, and white-faced capuchin monkeys. Currently, Philip is an adjunct faculty member at San Jose State University in the Environmental Studies Department and has taught environmental studies and biology at De Anza College and Mission College.
ANDREW BRADSHAW,
Co-founder and Secretary
Andrew Bradshaw brings great passion and over 10 years of experience in wildlife conservation research and environmental education. Andrew worked for the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society facilitating education programs and outreach events as well as coordinating volunteer citizen science projects. He has been involved in wildlife research in a variety of locations ranging from the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem to the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve of Belize. While working for the Belize Raptor Research Institute, Andrew conducted research on neotropical raptor species including the Stygian Owl, Hook-billed Kite and the scarcely studied Solitary Eagle. Andrew is also dedicated to raptor conservation in his home region of northern California. He has worked with the Ventana Wildlife Society monitoring California Condors, banded and counted raptors with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory as part of a long-term raptor migration study, and conducted nest monitoring of Golden Eagles in the Diablo Range with USGS. He is also a Hawk Watch count team member at the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. As an active member of the Raptor Research Foundation, Andrew has presented at their Annual Conference and participated in Early Career Raptor Research short courses in raptor conservation techniques. Andrew earned his B.S. in Ecology, Range, Wildlife and Fisheries with an emphasis in Wildlife Conservation from Brigham Young University – Idaho and is currently working toward his Master of Science in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology at San Francisco State University.
SANDRA MENZEL,
Director-at-Large
Sandra Menzel is an avian ecologist and an experienced burrowing owl biologist and has focused her work on the conservation of this species since 2008. She has monitored and managed burrowing owls and their habitat year-round at a variety of locations throughout the Bay Area and the Central Valley. She has experience implementing an array of management activities, including habitat assessment and enhancement, artificial burrow installation and maintenance, supplemental feeding, and predation risk assessment. She is also skilled in trapping and banding burrowing owls. During her graduate studies, she assessed the effectiveness of artificial burrowing owl burrows as a management tool. Besides her work with burrowing owls, Sandra conducted avian point-count surveys at San José and San Francisco International Airports to monitor the numbers and species of birds that represent aircraft strike hazards on airports for five years. She also conducted avian surveys along power structures, evaluated power structures for avian safety, and authored an Avian Protection Plan for Camp San Luis Obispo. Prior to that, she co-developed a research protocol for an avian mortality survey and scavenger removal rate study at the Altamont Pass Wind Resources Area. Early in her career, she worked for the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group where she identified active nest ledges of peregrine falcons and determined breeding status through intensive observation in order to facilitate collection of eggshell fragments and addled eggs. She also assisted hacking peregrine falcons at two sites along the California coast.
GRANT HUBER,
Wildlife Biologist
Grant Huber holds a B.S. in Environmental Studies with a minor in restoration from San Jose State University. He joined the Talon team in 2020, and has assisted with implementing Tier 3 conservation actions for burrowing owls under the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan, including surveying, installation of artificial burrows, construction of hacking enclosures, trapping and banding, habitat restoration, and maintenance. He has experience in fisheries and wildlife biology, working in aquatic and terrestrial systems. His professional experience includes surveys and monitoring of bird, fish, amphibian, and reptile species in California including Ridgeway’s rail, steelhead/rainbow trout, California red-legged frog, and San Francisco dusky-footed woodrats. He has helped conduct nesting bird surveys for the Anderson Seismic Retrofit Project and passive and active surveys for Ridgeway’s rail. He has participated in amphibian relocation and American bullfrog eradication. He is familiar with handling various native and non-native fish, and has assisted in juvenile rearing, sampling, and spawning surveys for O.mykiss. He has also participated in a variety of habitat enhancement and restoration projects, including non-native invasive plant species removal and planting native species. Grant frequently leads volunteer groups to help with vegetation management at several project sites.