Dr. Joan Morrison will highlight her 32-year study of Florida's Crested Caracara population, presenting findings related to its natural history, population status, threats to persistence, relationships with humans, and conservation strategies. Additionally, she will discuss recent comparative work on caracaras in Arizona and provide information on other raptors present in southern Florida.
About the Presenter:
Dr. Joan Morrison is a retired Professor of Biology and Environmental Science from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. She received a Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida. Since beginning in her dissertation research in 1991, she has focused on the population biology and habitat associations of Florida’s Crested Caracara population, and she has continued that research during the subsequent 32 years. On a post-doc funded by the National Geographic Society, she studied the chimango, another caracara that inhabits agricultural areas in southern Chile. While at Trinity College, Dr. Morrison and her undergraduate students conducted studies of Red-tailed Hawks that lived in the urban environments of Hartford. Prior to earning her Ph.D., Dr. Morrison worked as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service in Alaska, Colorado, Washington, and New Mexico. Recently, her research on the Crested Caracara has expanded to focus on Arizona’s caracara population.
