Five Valleys Audubon Monthly Meeting
February 13, 2023
7 to 9 pm
Subject: The Pribilof Islands: The "Galapagos" of the North
Location: Room 110 Interdisciplinary Sciences Building (ISB) on the University of Montana campus

Please join us Monday, February 13, 2023, at 7pm to hear Dr. Erick Greene, present his fascinating talk on The Pribilof Islands: The "Galapagos" of the North.

The Pribilof Islands are remarkable islands in the Bering Sea north of the Aleutian Islands. For such small islands, they are jewels of biological diversity, with the largest northern fur seal colony in the world, incredibly diverse seabird populations, and many rare birds that get blown over from Siberia and Asia. They are also home to a fascinating population of Gray-crowned Rosy Finches, which were the focus of Dr. Greene’s studies.

Erick Greene is Professor Emeritus in the Division of Biological Sciences and in the Wildlife Biology Program at The University of Montana. He grew up in Quebec, Canada, with twin passions for music and nature. Erick dropped out of high school and lived for a year in the Galapagos Islands, working as a researcher on Darwin’s Finches. He then worked on seabirds 800 miles north of the Arctic Circle with the Canadian Wildlife Service. He returned for undergraduate studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he studied biology, music, and mathematics, and then received a PhD from Princeton University. He was the Director of UM’s Bird Ecology Lab, and has broad interests in ecology, evolution, and conservation.

The meeting will be held in Room 110 in the Interdisciplinary Sciences Building (ISB) on the University of Montana campus. The building lies on the south end of campus on Beckwith Avenue between Maurice and Mansfield avenues. Because our membership is largely older adults, masks are encouraged, but not required by the university.

Photo: Parakeet Auklet by Erick Greene