Written by 
Elaina K. Burns
Nature of Montezuma Lecture at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge History, Progress, and Status of River Otter in New York State
The Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center presents a Nature of Montezuma Lecture Series, Saturday, July 28, from 2-3:30pm. SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY ESF) graduate student, Elaina K. Burns, will share her expertise of the history of river otters in New York State. The Center is located at 3395 US Route 20 East, Seneca Falls, NY.
Participants will learn the natural history of the river otter in New York State, including their local extinction and the efforts taken to restore otters to the central and western parts of the state, and the river otter’s ecological importance as a top predator. Elaina will talk about the status of otters in the Finger Lakes and her research goals.
Elaina graduated from Nazareth College of Rochester with a B.S. in Biology and worked various field jobs studying piping plover, least terns,white-throated sparrows, and coyotes. She went back to school to earn an associates degree form the Finger Lakes Community College in Natural Resource Conservation. She has worked for the Department of Environmental Conservation, studying American marten and fisher for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She is currently a graduate assistant and Master’s student in the Fish and Wildlife Biology and Management Program at SUNY ESF. She aspires to be a biologist for the state or for a federal agency.
Nature of Montezuma programs run from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. The series is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. If you are interested in sponsoring this series, please contact Chris Lajewski at the Montezuma Audubon Center, 315/365-3580, or Andrea VanBeusichem at the Montezuma NWR, 315/568-5987, ext. 228.
Fee: Free to members of the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex; $5 for adult non-members; $3 for students and seniors non-members. Your fee will help fund future programs! For more information, contact Tasha Daniels at 315/568-5987 ext. 229, Tasha_Daniels@fws.gov.
