TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2019: Birds and Bird Conservation on Midway Atoll with Jan Loomis
Jan Loomis went to Midway Atoll to have an adventure and be surrounded by the seabirds she had recently fallen in love with on their nesting grounds. As a new member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Annual Nesting Albatross Census Team she came to know all things Albatross.
Jan’s background and profession is nursing, specifically, emergency and travel nursing. She has worked for thirty plus years to keep everyday travelers (including birders!), as well as members of the Department of Defense, foreign governments and Homeland Security from contracting diseases while away on foreign assignments and travel. Immediately after Hurricane Katrina Jan deployed to the New Orleans Airport where as the Triage Team Leader she treated over 3500 patients in just seven days.
Locally, Jan is about to start her third year as part of the Central Coast Black Oystercatcher Monitoring Project and also works as a volunteer naturalist for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
While her main job on Midway was to census nesting birds, Jan’s training as an observer and emergency responder would not allow her to ignore the twin slow moving crises of climate change and plastic pollution that were impacting a breeding colony of birds on one of the most remote islands on the planet. In her talk she will describe her work on Midway and give her assessment of the situation and prescription for continued good health of the colony.