Syracuse.com - River otter lecture set for July 28 at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge

[HuntingNY-News]

It's part of the refuge's Nature of Montezuma Lecture Series. This event is free to members of the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex; $5 for adult non-members; $3 for students and seniors non-members.

The following is a press release:

SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) graduate student, Elaina K. Burns, will talk about the history of river otters in this staet from 2 to 3:30 p.m. July 28 at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, 3395 US Route 20 East, Seneca Falls.

The talk is part of the Nature of Montezuma Lecture Series.

,ou will learn the natural history of the river otter in New York State, including their extirpation and the efforts taken to restore otters to the central and western parts of the state, and the river otter’s ecological importance as a top predator. Burns will talk about the status of otters in the Finger Lakes and her research goals.

Burns graduated from Nazareth College of Rochester with a B.S. in Biology and worked various field jobs studying piping plover, least terns, white-throated sparrows, and coyotes. She went back to school to earn an associates degree form the Finger Lakes Community College in Natural Resource Conservation. She has worked for the Department of Environmental Conservation, studying American marten and fisher for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

She is currently a graduate assistant and Master’s student in the Fish and Wildlife Biology and Management Program at SUNY ESF. She aspires to be a biologist for the state or for a federal agency.

Her talk is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. If you are interested in sponsoring this series, please contact Chris Lajewski at the Montezuma Audubon Center, 315/365-3580, or Andrea VanBeusichem at the Montezuma NWR, 315/568-5987, ext. 228.

This event is free to members of the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex; $5 for adult non-members; $3 for students and seniors non-members.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog