American Kestrel delivering food to nestlings.

Conservation Biology of the Imperiled Southeastern American Kestrel in Florida, with Speaker Ken Meyer

Socializing: 6:45 p.m.

Meeting starts: 7 p.m.

Program starts: 7:15 p.m.

About the presentation: Hear about the research and outreach efforts of Avian Research and Conservation Institute (ARCI) and their Audubon partners to inform the management and conservation of our declining population of this small-but-spectacular raptor. Learn how we all can contribute to protecting these inspiring birds while also helping to ensure the future for other fascinating species that depend on similar prey and habitats. 

Ken Meyer

About the speaker:  Ken Meyer is Executive Director of Avian Research and Conservation Institute. Dr. Meyer, who received his B.S. in Zoology from the University of Maine and his Ph.D. in Zoology/Behavioral Ecology from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), has studied the conservation biology of birds in Florida and beyond since the 1980s, beginning with his research on Swallow-tailed Kites, which continues to this day. After serving as a Post-doctoral Associate and then Research Associate at the University of Florida from 1988 to 1992, he conducted studies of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and the bird communities of south Florida pinelands for the National Park Service in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. In 1997, Ken co-founded ARCI and soon branched out to other research challenges on a broader range of species. He has served on species status-review committees for state agencies and biological review panels for National Wildlife Refuges; and as a graduate student advisor and committee member in his position as an adjunct Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida. Ken, who received a Partners in Flight Research Award for his contributions to bird conservation, provides frequent university guest lectures, conducts training workshops for conservation professionals, and presents many programs each year to citizen conservation groups on ARCI’s research and its implications for bird conservation. He feels very fortunate that, in his many roles for ARCI, he seems to have found the best of many professional worlds.

Two American Kestrel nestlings.