Lindsay Young and Eric VanderWerf of Pacific Rim Conservation receive the Ralph W. Schreiber Conservation Award for their efforts to conserve albatrosses

Eric VanderWerf and Lindsay Young band a Laysan Albatross

The annual Ralph W. Schreiber Conservation Award of the American Ornithological Society, honouring extraordinary conservation-related scientific contributions by an individual or small team has been presented this year to Lindsay Young and Eric VanderWerf of the Hawaii-based environmental NGO, Pacific Rim Conservation.  The award honours extraordinary conservation-related scientific contributions by an individual or a small team.  The award, which consists of a framed certificate and an honorarium, is named after Ralph Schreiber, a prominent figure in American ornithology known for his enthusiasm, energy and dedication to research and conservation, notably of the Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis.

The award’s citation reads:

“Drs. Lindsay Young and Eric VanderWerf of Pacific Rim Conservation are being recognized for the sustained success of their conservation actions combined with their publication, individually and together, of a significant body of research on bird conservation and the biology of birds (notably on the Laysan Albatross and Hawaiʻi ʻElepaio). Their long-term study of Hawaiian seabirds and land birds, combined with planning and execution of effective conservation actions, have helped to protect vulnerable breeding birds in Hawaiʻi. Conservation projects led by Pacific Rim Conservation encompass a range of techniques including acoustic survey and population monitoring, habitat restoration, chick fostering and translocation, social attraction, predator-proof fencing, and predator eradication.  Their diverse conservation projects on multiple islands have reduced predation on, and improved habitat for, multiple species of breeding Hawaiian seabirds and land birds and established new breeding colonies of several vulnerable seabird species. Drs. Young and VanderWerf are the authors of multiple scientific articles, book chapters and reports, and co-authors of a forthcoming book, Conservation of Marine Birds (July 2022; Elsevier), on the factors influencing seabird conservation.”

ACAP Latest News has featured the conservation efforts of Pacific Rim Conservation on numerous times over the last decade (click here), especially in combating the effects of climate change on ACAP-listed Black-footed Phoebastria nigripes and Laysan P. immutabilis Albatrosses.

The 2022 award was also given to David Ainley, well-known penguin researcher and Editor of Marine Ornithology.

On a personal note, the ACAP Information Office knew the late Ralph Schreiber (1942-1988) from a couple of international conferences and a field trip to study Great White Pelicans P. onocrotalus together on South Africa’s Dassen Island in 1979.  He remembers him as a larger-than-life character with a booming voice, and one who died far too young in his 40s.  I am sure he would have been pleased to know the award named after him has gone this year to Eric and Lindsay for their work conserving seabirds in the North Pacific.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 30 May 2022