Brian Harrington

Biologist, Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences,
Manomet, MA, and
Staff Technical Advisor to the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network

Biographical Sketch

Brian Harrington has been a biologist with Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences since 1971. During his tenure most of his research has focused on shorebirds and their migrations, and especially on conservation issues associated with the long-hop migration strategies that many shorebirds employ. His research has been conducted throughout North and South America. One species he has especially focused on is the Red Knot, chosen because it illustrates many of the conservation issues he has documented. Much of this work is described in a popular book, The Flight of the Red Knot (WW Norton Co., publisher) authored in 1996. The spectacular migrations of this robin-sized bird between Canadian Arctic tundra and Patagonian shorelines is the topic of his talk.

Brian is the staff technical advisor to the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (http://www.manomet.org/WHSRN/), a program that is implementing projects focused on the conservation of shorebirds and their migration/wintering habitats throughout the Americas.

Brian also has been working through the National Conservation Training Center of the US Fish and Wildlife Service to train professional wildlife managers throughout North America in methods of wetland management for shorebirds and waterfowl. He also is coordinator of the International Shorebird Surveys, a project that has enlisted more than 800 volunteers to collect counts of shorebirds throughout North and South America. Observations from this project have been extensively used in developing the United States Shorebird Conservation Plan.

For more information about the International Shorebird Surveys, The US Shorebird Conservation Plan, or the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences, visit www.manomet.org and click on appropriate sections.