Daniel Roby

Dan Roby recently retired as Unit Leader–Wildlife for the US Geological Survey-Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Professor of Wildlife Ecology in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences at Oregon State University. He received graduate degrees from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (M.Sc. in Wildlife Management) and the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. in Biology). In addition to his faculty position at Oregon State University, Dan has held faculty positions at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale (1988-1992) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (1992-1995).

Although his M.Sc. thesis concerned caribou and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline on Alaska’s North slope, his primary area of research interest is the physiological ecology, foraging ecology, and conservation biology of birds, with an emphasis on seabirds. Dan has conducted field research on the ecology of seabirds in Alaska, Hawaii, Greenland, Newfoundland, South Georgia, China,
and Antarctica, as well as throughout the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. Over the last 25 years, he has been involved in research on the impact of avian predation on recovery of ESA-listed salmonids in the Columbia River Basin and non-lethal methods to mitigate those impacts. He has also studied the long-term effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on seabirds in Alaska, most recently focusing on restoration of seabirds that have failed to recover from the spill over the subsequent 30 years. Dan is also serving as a technical advisor for restoration efforts for the critically endangered Chinese crested tern in China, a seabird species so rare it was thought to be extinct for 63 years, and research efforts to better understand the factors limiting recovery of the
endangered marbled murrelet in Oregon. He served as Chair of the Pacific Seabird Group in 2005 and was elected a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union in 2008. In 2017, Dan received the Ralph W. Schreiber Conservation Award from the American Ornithological Society. He has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications. During his career, Dan served as major advisor and mentor for 40 graduate students, which he rates as his most significant professional accomplishment.

In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the study and conservation of seabirds, student mentoring, and our organization, the Pacific Seabird Group honors Dr. Daniel D. Roby with a Lifetime Achievement Award.