Committee updates

Conservation Committee Updates
By Lindsay Adrean

On October 31st, 2023, the Conservation Committee submitted a comment letter regarding the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s draft wind energy areas in Oregon. With input from various PSG members and including the North Pacific Albatross Working Group, we provided information on Short-tailed Albatross and Leach’s Storm-Petrel presence in the proposed wind energy areas (WEAs) that had not been accounted for in the spatial suitability model that was used to identify the WEAs. We also highlighted data gaps for those species along with the Marbled Murrelet, Tufted Puffin, and other seabirds more generally that should receive attention before finalizing lease sites.

Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Committee Updates
By Katie Stoner and Sarah Guitart

The Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Committee was formally created in June 2021 by Derek Harvey and Katie Stoner in response to a member-wide request that PSG EID efforts be organized into a dedicated committee. Since its formation, the committee organized EID-focused workshops at the 2022 and 2023 Pacific Seabird Group Annual Meetings (Inclusive Communication and Leadership: Continuing the Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Conversation and FieldFutures Training: Preventing Sexual Harassment & Assault in Fieldwork, respectively), distributed a member Demographic Survey, generated the Indigenous Names for Birds and Places as a working reference document for PSG and the marine ornithological community at large, reviewed and assisted in the Seabirds and Indigenous Cultures sessions for the 2022 and 2023 annual meetings, and assisted the HELPS committee with hosting their biannual USAJobs training. In late spring of 2023, Derek Harvey stepped down from his formal role and Sarah Guitart started her service as committee co-chair alongside Katie Stoner. Looking forward, we are excited to continue our commitment to equity, inclusion, and diversity efforts within the Pacific Seabird Group and can’t wait to see what this next chapter of the committee will bring.