Point Blue Conservation Science

Description

Point Blue Conservation Science is a wildlife conservation and research organization that studies birds and other environmental indicators to protect nature.

It was founded in 1965 as the Point Reyes Bird Observatory to study bird migration along the Pacific Flyway, and took its current name in 2013. It is headquartered in Petaluma, California, and runs field research stations including the Palomarin Field Station in Bolinas and a long-running research presence on the Farallon Islands. Staff and seasonal scientists work from the Sierra to the sea and as far as Antarctica.

Its work rests on long-term ecological data, including the longest running population study of land birds in North America west of the Mississippi. It stores and interprets over one billion ecological observations and publishes findings in peer-reviewed journals. It collaborates with government agencies, private landowners and other wildlife and habitat managers on climate-smart conservation, and provides education and training to school children, interns and conservation practitioners.

Its priorities include understanding and projecting the effects of climate change on wildlife and people. It has developed data tools such as the Whale Aware program, which gathers near-real-time data on whale locations to help prevent ship collisions. Volunteer and outreach activities include habitat restoration, tidal marsh bird surveys and work with ranchers on conservation practices.