USGS Home Contact USGS Search USGS

Columbia Environmental Research Center

CERC Home /  About CERC /  What's New /  Staff /  Research /  Missouri River /  Publications /  Databases /  Webs Hosted /  Links

CERC In The News 2002 (for news in 1999, 2000, 2001; 2003)

November 2002

• Thorns and Roses: 11.29.02---November 29, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "An owl goes south with the aid of some friends South Texas has its share of winter visitors, but one special guest hitched a ride. A burrowing owl named Miles got a 1,800-mile lift from two Canadian scientists who were part of the team that rescued the bird, one of a disappearing species."
  Contact: Mary Kay Skoruppa, Texas Gulf Coast Field Research Station
• Burrowing Owl Gets New Texas Home---November 23, 2002 Billings Gazette. "That's one lucky owl," said Mary Kay Skoruppa, a biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Corpus Christi, who helped coordinate the release. "We're just real excited. It's a neat, fun, everybody-wins kind of thing."
  Contact: Mary Kay Skoruppa, Texas Gulf Coast Field Research Station
• Return to Freedom---November 23, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "The migratory owl was home at last - at least for the winter. After giving Miles time to adjust to his new digs, scientists removed the plugs from both ends of the pipe. Miles remained inside. "We know this is a good site," said Marc Woodin, a spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey. "It's secure. There's low traffic and lots of insects. There's low grass and lots of grazing lands so it seems like the perfect habitat for Miles.'"
  Contact: Mary Kay Skoruppa, Texas Gulf Coast Field Research Station
• Montana Owl Gets Snug Hole in Texas---November 21, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "The pint-size owl, named for Miles City, Mont., where he was found suffering from a head wound, was flown to the Montana Raptor Conservation Center in Bozeman for rehabilitation, said Mary K. Skoruppa, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Geological Survey. The grasslands owl is on his way here just after winter has set in up north. "It's really kind of neat that it fell into place," Skoruppa said."
  Contact: Mary Kay Skoruppa, Texas Gulf Coast Field Research Station

October 2002

• Environmental Experts to Assess Pacific Atoll---October 17, 2002 Columbia Missourian. "Four local scientists and piles of equipment from Columbia will travel to the South Pacific to determine whether a former toxic dump is suitable for use as a wildlife refuge. The group of experts from the U.S. Geological Survey Columbia Environmental Research Center will conduct a chemical analysis of sediment and blood and liver samples from adult fish at Johnston Atoll, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge 800 miles southwest of Hawaii. Their research will determine whether the land is safe as a fish and wildlife habitat."
  Contact: Don Tillitt, Biochemistry
• Russian, Local Scientists Join Efforts---October 3, 2002 Columbia Missourian. "They casually talk about each other's families and laugh at inside jokes they share. Sometimes it's difficult to tell that part of the group traveled across the Atlantic Ocean just to be there. The U.S. Geological Survey's Columbia Environmental Research Center and the Institute for Biology of Inland Waters in Borok, Russia, have shared research methods, technology and friendship for 28 years."
  Contact: Denny Buckler, Toxicology
• On the Trail of the Disappearing Owl---October, 2002 TRIO (Newsletter of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation) "With a shortage of such residences, the owls sometimes choose more dangerous locations, such as road culverts. And naïve juveniles foraging on road kill are often run over by traffic. When biologist Mary Kay Skoruppa goes looking for burrowing owls in south Texas, she finds that many are using small culverts on country roads, dangerously close to traffic, humans, dogs, and cats. "We don't have mammal holes," says Skoruppa, who works for the US Geological Survey. "The major cause is that so much of the landscape here has been plowed under and we don't (naturally) have prairie dogs." Her agency recently began a study using artificial burrows and was encouraged to note that several owls began showing a preference for one model burrow over another, using the smallest of three different sizes that were set out. "It's a management tool," says Skoruppa. "If we can find out exactly what they like, then we can provide them in safe places, away from roads and disturbances."
  Contact: Mary Kay Skoruppa, Texas Gulf Coast Field Research Station
• October 2002 Birding (Vol. 34, No. 5, pp. 451-458) Defending the Steppingstones of Migration by Chris Eberly

August 2002

• Federal Study Validates CU Biologist's Water Quality Work ---August 6, 2002 Springfield News Leader. "That suspicion has now been backed up by a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources."
  Contact: Tom Johnson, Biochemistry/Physiology

July 2002

• Turtle Volunteers Honored for Efforts ---July 21, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "We could not have done this without you," said Donna Shaver, geological survey station leader at the Padre Island research station. "We thank you from the bottom of our hearts." This year was a record-breaking Kemp's ridley year with 37 nests being found on the Texas coast, 25 of which were on North Padre Island. The other nests were found on South Padre Island, Galveston Island, Quintana Beach, Matagorda Peninsula, Mustang Island and Boca Chica Beach. The last three nests are due to hatch within the next week. Once they hatch and the babies are set free, more than 1,000 Kemp's ridley sea turtles statewide will have made their way to the sea this year.
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station
  

• Back From the Brink: An Endangered Sea Turtle is Recovering in Texas ---July 15, 2002 Dallas Morning News. "The endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle continues its slow return to the Texas Gulf of Mexico coast. So far this year, 37 nests have been sighted on Texas beaches – more than double the previous record of 16 for all of 1999, according to Donna Shaver, a marine biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey."
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station

• Port Aransas Visitors See Ridleys Hatch Naturally ---July 4, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "Donna Shaver, station leader of the U.S. Geological Survey's Padre Island Field Research Station, said 35 nests of the Kemp's ridley, the world's most endangered turtle species, have been found along the Texas coast this year. At least 3,400 eggs have been retrieved or accounted for, not including Tuesday's hatchlings. There are only about 10,000 adult ridley sea turtles left worldwide."
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station

• Turtle Quandary: Endangered Species Complicates Car Debate on Galveston Island ---July 2, 2002 Houston Chronicle. "The turtles were just doing what turtles are programmed to do. It being their breeding season, they waddled ashore on Galveston Island in the early weeks of June, laid their eggs in the sand and then, presumably with nary a pang of maternal guilt, slipped back into the depths of the Gulf of Mexico. But these were no ordinary turtles, and this was no ordinary beach on which they chose to heed their primal urges. These were endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles and, because there is no record of them ever nesting on the Upper Texas Coast, their visit was heralded as another sign the species is clawing its way back from the brink of extinction."
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station

June 2002

• Swim for Survival ---June 14, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "Thirty-two nests, containing 2,463 eggs - a record number of nests - have been found on Texas beaches this year, said Donna Shaver, U.S. Geological Survey station leader at the Padre Island Field Research Station."
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station
• Texas Hosts Endangered Sea Turtles ---June 11, 2002 Environment News Service. "Michael Mac, center director of the U.S. Geological Survey's Columbia Environmental Research Center added, "The long term research and monitoring efforts to restore a sustainable population of Kemp's ridley sea turtles pays off, as witnessed by the record number of nests this season. The dedication of scientists and the many partners makes this exceptional year possible.""
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station

May 2002

• With a Month Left in Nesting Season, Record 17 Ridley Turtle Nests Found May 19, 2002 ---May 19, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "A San Antonio science teacher and two volunteer Kemp's Ridley turtle patrollers found four separate nests Saturday bringing the total to 17 for the year - one more than the record set in 1999 - with a month to go in the nesting season. "We're pretty excited about it," said Donna Shaver, the station leader of the U.S. Geological Survey headquarters on Padre Island National Seashore, where two of the nests were found. "This seems to be a sign that things are going in the right direction."
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station

April 2002

• More Science Needed, River Experts Say ---April 25, 2002 Sioux City Journal. "More resources to do more scientific work on the Missouri River are on the wish list of some participants who wrapped up the sixth annual Missouri River Natural Resources Conference Wednesday at the Marina Inn. This year's conference drew 265 participants, the second highest turnout in its history. "There's new science and the (U.S. Army) Corps is coming out with their preferred alternative (for managing the water flows) at the end of May, so there's a lot of interest in the river," said Mike Mac, director of the U.S. Geological Survey Environmental Research Center at Columbia. Mo., and a host of the conference."
  Contact: Michael J. Mac, Center Director

March 2002

• Searching the Seashore ---March 29, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "When a red 18-wheel tanker truck got stuck in the powdery sand of Padre Island National Seashore, a 10-ton bulldozer had to come and tug it loose."
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station
• Endangered Turtle Dies of Illness ---March 26, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "A sick juvenile hawksbill turtle died late Sunday at the University of Texas Marine Science Center in Port Aransas despite efforts to save it."
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station

February 2002

• Donna Shaver Honored for Turtle-Rescue Work ---February 26, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "More than 20 years ago, Donna Shaver had never even seen the ocean. On Monday, she was one of nine winners at the Texas Coastal Treasurers 2002 Conference for her work to save sea turtles."
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station

January 2002

• U.S. Awards Endangered Turtle Program $95,000 More Annually ---January 10, 2002 Corpus Christi Caller-Times. "For years the turtle protection program has fought for a more stable source of money, said Donna Shaver, station leader of the Padre Island Field Research Station. The park service money will pay staff researchers who had formerly been paid through grant money."
  Contact: Donna Shaver-Miller, Padre Island Field Research Station
• SpatialNews Press Release  ---January 1, 2002 Spatial News "USGS Names Michael J. Mac as Director of Columbia Environmental Research Center"
  Contact: Marcia Nelson, CERC Outreach Coordinator

AccessibilityFOIAPrivacyPolicies and Notices
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey URL: http://www.cerc.usgs.gov/whats_new/news_items_02.htm Web Contact Information: Marcia K Nelson and Chris Henke Last Modified: