Deer and Bear Expert Kicks Off Paul Smith's College Fisheries and Wildlife Seminar Series

PAUL SMITHS, NY (09/16/2013)(readMedia)-- The man responsible for some of the most sweeping changes to bear- and deer-management policies in Pennsylvania's history will kick off the fall Fisheries and Wildlife Seminar Series at Paul Smith's College.

Gary Alt, a biologist and the principal scientist at Normandeau Associates in Pennsylvania, will give a talk at 10:10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30, in the Freer Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Alt has over 30 years experience as a wildlife biologist and has overseen statewide research and management programs. He has conducted the country's largest field studies on black bears and white-tailed deer. During his tenure, Pennsylvania's black bear population increased nearly 8-fold. Alt and his team of scientists implemented the most sweeping changes to deer management in the history of Pennsylvania in an effort to balance the deer herd with its habitat.

Alt holds a doctorate in forest resources science from West Virginia University and a master's in wildlife management from Pennsylvania State University.

On Friday, Sept. 27, Steven Campbell, a conservation biologist with the Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission, will also be on campus for a talk titled "Recovery Efforts for the Endangered Karner Blue Butterfly at the Albany Pine Bush Preserve."

Campbell holds a doctorate in wildlife ecology from the University of Maine, a master's in biology and experimental statistics from New Mexico State University.

Two more talks will follow this semester:

– Jacob Straub, Friday, Oct. 18, "Synchrony and Variability in Seed Crops of Quercus Spp."

– Glenn Johnson, Friday, Nov. 15, "Conservation of an Endangered Species: Recovery Planning for Spruce Grouse at the Edge of its Range."

All seminars, which are free and open to the public, take place from 10:10-11 a.m. in the Freer Auditorium.

For the past six years, Paul Smith's College has hosted a different professional fisheries and wildlife biologist each month as part of the series, which is sponsored by the fisheries and wildlife science program.

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