Owls of Maine and the Maine Owl Pellet Project

Speaker: Zach Olson

The Maine Owl Pellet Project (MOPP) is a collaboration between the University of New England, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service that aims to engage the public and promote crowdsourced science to better understand the diet of Maine’s owls and the distribution and composition of the small mammal community on which they prey, including the threatened northern bog lemming, to inform conservation efforts. The talk will combine information about the common owls in Maine, an introduction to the northern bog lemming, a project update, and information about how interested individuals can participate. To learn more: https://sites.une.edu/maine-owl-pellet-project
Zach Olson: an Associate Professor of Animal Behavior at the University of New England. He received a B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from South Dakota State University in 2004, a M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from Frostburg State University in 2006, and a Ph.D. in Wildlife Genetics from Purdue University in 2010. He has authored or co-authored over 30 scientific publications focused on wildlife conservation and scavenging ecology, and has worked with wild animals ranging from gray seals and bighorn sheep to hellbenders and timber rattlesnakes. He enjoys being outdoors with his wife and two young kids, training his bird dog, and being bitten by his small parrot.