Event Details
Where: Click here to watch the recorded lecture.
Additional Resources: Check out this podcast on wolverines
Lecture Description:
Two rare carnivores roam the high-alpine regions of the Washington Cascades. Wolverines were once eliminated entirely from Washington, but eventually began to recolonize the region. In 2020, a wolverine and her kits were photographed in Mt. Rainier National Park for the first time in over a century. Also struggling to survive in this harsh landscape is a little known, mountain fox. The Cascade red fox (Vulpes vulpes cascadensis) has called the high Cascades home for half a million years. In fact, they can only be found in the high Cascades of Washington. But despite their native status, this elusive species has gone largely unnoticed. So how do we learn more about these unique species and what can their presence here tell us about the history and future of the High Cascades? Join wildlife biologist, Jocelyn Akins, founder of the Cascades Carnivore Project, as she shares what it takes to research these rare carnivores and what that research may tell us about their chances of survival in American West.
Jocelyn Akins is a wildlife biologist and founder of Cascades Carnivore Project. She studies rare, alpine carnivores, working in collaboration with numerous partners to promote the conservation of carnivores and their ecological communities in the Cascade Range. She earned a Ph.D. in Conservation Genetics from the University of California Davis and has over twenty years of experience in wildlife conservation research. She is a 2021 Wilburforce Leaders in Conservation Science Fellow.
Learn more about the Cascade Carnivore Project and Dr. Jocelyn Akins by watching the video below!
Credit: David and Michael Hanson of Modoc Stories