Dr. Dale Gawlik
Endowed Chair for Conservation and Biodiversity, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
Dr. Gawlik is the Endowed Chair for Conservation and Biodiversity at the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and a Professor in the Department of Life Sciences. Prior to coming to the Harte Research Institute, he spent over 25 years in South Florida conducting research focused on waterbird ecology and conservation, restoration ecology, and aquatic ecosystem management. He has published over 85 papers, many focused on how water level fluctuations in coastal and freshwater ecosystems control wading bird populations. Dr. Gawlik is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and he serves on the IUCN Heron Specialists Group and the IUCN Stork, Ibis, and Spoonbill Specialist Group. He also is a member of the binational Whooping Crane Recover Plan Implementation Team, the Wood Stork Working Group, and the International Reddish Egret Working Group. Dr. Gawlik has held elected leadership positions in professional scientific societies, including the Association of Field Ornithologists, Waterbird Society, Wilson Ornithological Society, and the Florida Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
Talk: “Colonial waterbirds coping with a changing Texas coast”
The Texas coast is the wintering grounds for most of the continent’s Whooping Cranes. However many people do not realize that the same coast also provides nesting habitat for nearly a quarter of a million colonial waterbirds. Join Dr. Gawlik as he discusses how these birds cope with a coastal landscape that is rapidly changing.