For the City-Times

Raptor Biologist Gene Jacobs will present the program Who and What is Raptor Services at the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society’s program on Wednesday, January 15 at 7 PM at the Lincoln Center, 1519 Water Street in Stevens Point.

As the owner and director of Linwood Springs Research Station, Gene will discuss his work with Merlins, Red-shouldered Hawks and Golden Eagles. He also plans to bring in his live Saw-whet Owl, which serves as an educational bird.

Each fall, his research station captures and bands Northern Saw-whet Owls to gain information about their migration routes, molt patterns, mortality, and winter and summer ranges. More than 12,000 Saw-whets have been banded since netting operations began in the fall of 1988.

Gene became involved with raptors in the early 1970s when the effects of the insecticide, DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), were at their peak.  Initially, he began studying Red-Shouldered Hawks in the Green Bay area and continued this research when he moved to Stevens Point to attend UWSP.  For 30 years, Gene worked as a lab technician for Consolidated Papers while continuing to expand his interests to include studies on Northern Saw-whet owls, Sharp-Shinned Hawks and Merlins. He began accepting consulting work in the 1990s and in 2002 he launched the “Raptor Workshop”.

This UWSP- accredited class allows students to participate directly in scientific research projects, which provides them with significant hands-on time to learn field techniques used in raptor research. More than 200 students from across North America have taken this week-long class. Later in 2002, he founded Raptor Services.

Gene received the “Outstanding Contributing Professional” award from UW-Stevens Point and the “Lifetime Achievement Award for Citizen-Based Monitoring” award from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.  He has authored or coauthored over a dozen articles in peer-review journals.

For more information about Raptor Services, visit the website and Facebook page:

http://www.raptorresearch.com/

https://www.facebook.com/LinwoodSpringsResearchStation

ALAS programs are free and open to the public and families are encouraged to attend.