Cons Sci Seminar - 10/18/24

October 18, 2024

12:00-1:00pm central time

In person (preferred): Borlaug Hall 335

Remote access: https://umn.zoom.us/j/93174443024

Cooperative Solutions: An Enduring Partnership Model for Natural Resources Science, Management, and Education

Dr. Cyndy Loftin

Regional Supervisor, US Geological Survey Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units

* Seminar recording is not available at the request of the speaker *

Abstract

Established in 1935, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Cooperative Research Unit (CRU) program is a unique partnership among the USGS, State Fish and Wildlife agencies, host universities, the Wildlife Management Institute, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Today, through this partnership the program operates 43 Units in 41 states, working with graduate students in research, technical assistance, and education to assist the Unit Cooperators with fish and wildlife research and information needs. I will provide an overview of the CRU program origin, its status, and invite discussion about the program and the Minnesota Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit hosted at the University of Minnesota.

Biosketch

Dr. Cynthia (Cyndy) Loftin is the eastern Regional Supervisor in the USGS Cooperative Research Units program, a wildlife biologist, and an Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Maine. Cyndy works with scientists and Cooperators in 15 Units distributed from Maine to Virginia to South Dakota. Dr. Loftin received her B.A. Biology at the University of Virginia, her M.S. Wildlife Management at Auburn University, where she studied the ecology of eastern indigo snakes, and her Ph.D. at the University of Florida, where she studied relationships of fire, hydrology, and vegetation management in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Previously, Cyndy worked as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Ohio and Texas and served as Assistant Unit Leader-Wildlife and Unit Leader of the USGS Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at the University of Maine. Cyndy is a Cohort 13 Fellow of the National Conservation Leadership Institute and enjoys working with scientists and practitioners in research partnerships across diverse disciplines, universities, and agencies. In her spare time, she can be found puttering in her garden and exploring the outdoors with her family.