Expert Bios and Initial Interview Questions

Amelia Mason

Amelia Mason, founder and director of SkyWatch Bird Rescue, is a federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator. As a child she grew up in South Africa and spent much of her time in the Kruger National Park, the largest wild game preservation in the world, where her mother managed the park’s private airport.

Growing up in Africa, she was always surrounded by wild animals. Friends and family were game rangers, wild game vets, trackers and other wildlife experts. Living in Africa on the game preserve and being involved with animals all the time, she gained experience from a very early age. School vacations were spent at the Pretoria Zoo, taking zoological classes and helping zoo caretakers tend to the animals and exhibits.

Amelia came to the United States at age 19 and traveled across the US until she settled in Portland, Oregon and started a career in the airline industry. Years later, after having children and living in many different places, she ended up in Charlotte where she became a volunteer for Carolina Waterfowl Rescue. After volunteering and mentoring, along with many other classes, courses and avian education, she became a federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator who now helps injured birds in North Carolina completely out of her own time and expense without reimbursement or payment.

1. What is your role at SkyWatch Bird Rescue?
2. How did you begin your career as a wildlife rehabilitator?
3. What is the purpose of SkyWatch Bird Rescue?
4. Who do you work with to help injured wild birds?
5. What are the leading causes of injury for admitted birds?
6. What household habits are most prevalent to harming wild birds?
7. What is SkyWatch’s general process for rehabilitation?
8. What is the worst bird rehabilitation case you have dealt with?
9. If there is one household habit you wish the public would change, what would it be?
10. How can the public help SkyWatch Bird Rescue?

Dr. Lawrence Cahoon

Dr. Cahoon is a biological oceanographer and limnologist. His basic research interests include primary production, grazing, and nutrient dynamics, and his applied research interests include various aspects of water quality analysis and remediation. A major focus of his research has been the role of benthic microalgae in oceanic, estuarine, and freshwater ecosystems. Dr. Cahoon is interested in studying the basic processes regulating benthic microalgal distribution and production, nutrient cycling, grazers in near-bottom habitats, and human impacts on sediment-water interface processes. He is also interested in evaluating water quality management practices in coastal areas, interactions of water quality with community function in estuarine habitats, and effects of climate variation on coastal features. His teaching interests include biological oceanography, limnology, forensic environmental science, and climate change processes and effects.

1. What areas within Wilmington do you study?
2. How does microalgae affect the oceanic and freshwater ecosystems within this area?
3. If applicable, how do these affects harm local wildlife?
4. As a coastal area, what are the water quality management practices in Wilmington?
5. In what ways does the water quality management practices in Wilmington harm local wildlife (birds in particular)?
6. How do humans impact the sediment-water interface processes?
7. How do the changes in the sediment-water interface processes affect local wildlife?
8. What are some household habits that harm our local environment?
9. How do these environmentally harmful human habits harm local wildlife?
10. In your field, what is the most prevalent environmental issue in relation to wildlife within Wilmington ?

Dr. Michael Mallin

Dr. Mallin’s current research interests include the causes and effects of eutrophication, the sources and impacts of urban pollution, land use and how it affects water quality, techniques on mitigating urban pollution, and environmental management issues. He serves as the Research Coordinator for the Lower Cape Fear River Program and the Wilmington Watersheds Program. In his research, Dr. Mallin collaborates with biologists, chemists, engineers and land use planners. His publications include studies on factors influencing bacterial contamination of coastal and inland waters, pollution from industrial scale swine and poultry farms, the nutrient and plankton ecology of the coastal ocean, the effects of weather on ecosystems, nutrient sensitivity of streams, rivers, and estuaries, and the environmental quality of urban and rural watersheds.

1. What water systems within Wilmington do you focus on during your research?
2. What are the sources and impacts of Wilmington’s urban pollution?
3. What are environmental management issues within the Wilmington area?
4. How are household habits affecting coastal and inland water contamination?
5. How has the nutrient sensitivity of streams and rivers within Wilmington affected local wildlife (particularly birds)?
6. Is the nutrient sensitivity of streams and rivers within Wilmington a result of human-caused environmental damage? If so, how?
7. How has local land use affected water quality?
8. How has local wildlife adapted to the effects of poor water quality due to improper land use?
9. Where in particular has wildlife been severely harmed by these environmental damages?
10. What household habit can be changed in order to prevent further pollution of local water quality?

Dr. Tom Hoban

Dr. Tom Hoban is the Executive Director of the Cape Fear River Assembly.  He has over three decades experience working on water resource management issues.  He was Professor of Sociology and Food Science at North Carolina State University for 25 years.  During that time he worked with government, industry, and nonprofit groups on a wide range of research and education projects.

Dr. Hoban received his BS in Ecology from the University of Illinois.  He has two MS degrees from the University of Wisconsin in Water Resource Management and Journalism.  Dr. Hoban received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Iowa State University.  He now lives in Carrboro, NC where he continues his research on community creativity and social innovation.  A lifelong musician he plays frequently and is working on a book about the social history of rock music.

1. What inspired you to begin your career in water resource management issues?
2. Throughout your career, what are the main water resource management issues regarding the Cape Fear River and other areas within Wilmington?
3. How have these issues improved throughout your career?
4. How have these issues worsen throughout your career?
5. During your work on research and education projects with the government, industry, and nonprofit groups, how has current research improved water resource management issues?
6. How have water management resource issues affected local wildlife (birds in particular)?
7. What steps has Cape Fear River Assembly taken, to encourage citizens, to become more aware of the water management concerns of the area?
8. How can the public help to change local water resource management issues?
9. What household habits, if any, can be changed in order to prevent further issues caused by water resource management?
10. How does Wilmington’s prevalence of both coastal and inland waters have an effect on water resource management?

Charley Winterbauer

He is the president of the Cape Fear Audubon Society. The Cape Fear Audubon Society works with Audubon North Carolina in local Important Bird Areas, nesting sites, and habitat protection. A member’s duties include, marking and fencing nesting sites, bird counts and public education. The organization also participates in national bird counts.

1. What is your role at the Cape Fear Audubon?
2. What inspired you to work for the welfare of local birds?
3. What are the main environmental issues threatening the birds inhabiting Wilmington?
4. How has Cape Fear Audubon tackled these environmental issues threatening the birds habitats?
5. What household habit can be changed in order to prevent further harm to local wildlife?
6. What particular species of birds are victim to local mistreatment of the environment?
7. Have you seen a pattern to which species of birds fall victim to local mistreatment, with each season?
8. How can the people of Wilmington become actively involved in making a difference to the environmental concerns affecting the area? More specifically to the bird population?
9. How does a bird count work and what is its purpose?
10. Why do you think birds are more likely to be overlooked than aquatic life, like dolphins, sea turtles, etc.?

Jennifer & David Leonard

Jennifer and David Leonard are licensed rehabilitators and operate Coastal Carolina Wildlife Rehab. The organization takes in injured or orphaned wildlife found around Wilmington, North Carolina  and rehabilitate them for eventual release back into the wild.

1. What is your role at Coastal Carolina Wildlife Rehab?
2. What inspired you to become a wildlife rehabilitator?
3. What are the main reasons for the injured or orphaned wildlife (particularly birds) that is admitted to your organization?
4. What are the prevalent cases you have seen when it comes to injured/orphaned birds?
5. What are household habits that harm wildlife in Wilmington?
6. What are ways the public can become more actively involved in helping the wildlife in Wilmington?
7. As the urban population continues to grow and more habitats are being overrun, what are some ways the average person can do to help prevent this?
8. Are there any misconceptions people live by, in which they believe they are helping wildlife, but in reality they are harming it?
9. Do you have a ton of injured/orphaned birds admitted to your rehabilitation center?
10. Do you work with anyone to rehabilitate wild birds?