ORAS resumes in-person monthly meetings at Sandy Creek Nature Center

Please join us for our monthly meeting in person on December 2nd at 7:00 p.m. at Sandy Creek Nature Center. Masks will be required for attendance. This month's speaker will be Dr. Charles van Rees, who will be talking about the conservation story of the ‘Alae ‘Ula (Hawaiian gallinule). Please see below more details.

Photo by: Lyle Rains. Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Hawaiian gallinule (Gallinula galeata sandvicensis) is an cryptic waterbird endemic to Hawai`i. It is an endangered subspecies of the common gallinule. The populations of Hawaiian gallinule experienced substantial decline in the early 20th century due to wetland habitat loss and predation by introduced mammals. Implementation of conservation actions such as predator control and habitat management led to gradual increase in population numbers, though the range of the subspecies remains restricted to two islands -- O`ahu and Kaua`i. 

Dr. Charles van Rees is a post-doctoral researchers at the Odum School of Ecology and River Basin Center at UGA. He received his bachelor's degree in Ecology from Connecticut College, and later completed his Ph.D in Ecology at Tufts University studying impacts of anthropogenic environmental changes on Hawaiian gallinules.