The conservation of all wild species rests upon our awareness and basic understanding of the problems, and solutions, that each species confronts. Raptors, or birds of prey, occupy a diverse array of habitat types around the world, including the air, land and sea, and therefore provide us with a multi-faceted view of our world and ecosystems we share. Starting with a focus on a small raptor conservation center in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we will branch out to explore the natural history and conservation of some of these magnificent animals.
Roger Smith has spent his entire professional career in the natural sciences and environmental education. Roger started his professional life as a field biologist researching grizzly bear demographics in northwestern Montana in 1977. He continued to study both grizzly and black bears in Alaska, Maine and Colorado before completing his secondary science degree in 1984. After teaching high school science in Montana, he moved to Jackson Hole in 1985 and joined the resident faculty at the Teton Science School (TSS). At TSS, he designed and implemented field-oriented natural science curriculum for all ages. In 1987, he joined the field staff at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), leading courses in Wyoming, Texas, Mexico and Kenya.
In 1994, Roger completed his Masters degree in Wildlife Biology and Physiology from the University of Wyoming. Roger’s research has focused on raptors and ravens of Grand Teton National Park, and he has continued to pursue this work to this day.
In 1994, he helped initiate and manage the Professional Residency in Environmental Education program at the Teton Science School, and was on faculty there until 1999. From 1999 to 2001 Roger worked as a field research biologist with Beringia South, a nonprofit wildlife research and educational institute in Kelly, Wyoming. There, he managed all aspects of independent research, from grant and proposal writing, research, and publication in peer-reviewed professional journals.
Roger began the Teton Raptor Center in 1997 with his wife and fellow wildlife biologist Margaret Creel. Since then his focus has been primarily on medical care and public education around raptors of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.