bear
Photo by Jenny Ross

Two experts to discuss bear management research

By Christi Fish
Public Affairs Specialist

(April 14, 2009)--Wildlife lovers and conservationists are invited to a presentation on the management of bear populations in Texas and beyond from 6 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 16 in the Main Building Auditorium (0.106) on the UTSA Main Campus. Free and open to the public, two lectures will address the management of bear populations, bear research and projections for the species.

Co-sponsored by the UTSA College of Sciences and the Department of Environmental Science Bridge the Gap Program, there will be back-to-back lectures accompanied by slide presentations: "Bear Conservation Around the World" by John J. Beecham Jr. and "Bears of Mexico and Texas" by Diana Doan-Crider. The speakers are members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Bear Specialist Group.

For more information, contact Diana Doan-Crider at (830) 324-6550 or Amanda Beck at (210) 458-6009).

------------------------------

About the Speakers

John J. Beecham Jr. is a Boise, Idaho, resident who has studied and managed bear populations for more than 25 years. Since 2003, Beecham has served as a consulting wildlife biologist for state agencies, federal agencies and the private sector on large carnivore research and management. Simultaneously, he has advised graduate students in his role as an adjunct professor of wildlife management at the University of Idaho.

His career includes more than 30 years with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and more than three years with the Wildlife Conservation Society. At the April 16 lecture, Beecham will present information on conservation initiatives for the world's eight bear species, his expertise in bear cub rehabilitation and adoption, and his current research in Turkey, Greece and South America.

Diana L. Doan-Crider has conducted wildlife research since 1981, when she began as a field assistant with the Central Arizona Canal Research Project. Since then, she has studied bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, grizzly bears and black bears, among other wild species.

In 1991, she joined academia, teaching wildlife courses at Texas A&M University's Kingsville and College Station campuses. This year, she joined the UTSA faculty as a wildlife biology instructor in the College of Sciences. Her April 16 presentation will include her research findings on black bears in Mexico and a discussion of the expanding black bear populations in Mexico and Texas.