Anacortes Lecture – People for Puffins: How to Change the Tide for the Salish Sea’s Endangered Seabirds

During her presentation for the Friends of the Salish Sea Speaker Series, Olivia Fross will discuss charismatic Tufted Puffins, mysterious Marbled Murrelets, and her adventure-filled experiences researching endangered seabirds in Washington State. Olivia Fross grew up in Boulder, Colorado, and got involved with bird banding at a young age. Growing up with wild birds in hand and researching their migration, life histories, and behaviors sparked what Olivia calls her “bird-oriented lifestyle,” in which most of her waking moments are spent looking at or thinking about birds. She attended the University of Puget Sound for a bachelor’s degree in science and was a member of the Conservation Biology Lab run by Dr. Peter Hodum, a University of Puget Sound professor whose work focuses on avian ecology, conservation biology, and Pacific Northwest seabirds. In college, Olivia fell in love with seabirds and spent three summers conducting undergraduate research on the breeding biology of Tufted Puffins, Double-crested Cormorants, and Marbled Murrelets on coastal islands and waterways.