The International Wolf Center is excited to announce the first two winners of the Dr. L. David Mech Fellowships. They are Lily Heinzel and Cameron Ho.
Both students will receive a $6,000 stipend and up to $4,000 in support for field research expenses. The International Wolf Center, which Mech founded in 1985, funds the fellowships.
Heinzel is a senior at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Ho graduated from the University of Washington in June 2021.
“We were thrilled at the quality of applicants,” said the Center’s Executive Director, Grant Spickelmier. “With this being the first year for the fellowships, we didn’t know what to expect. It was hard for the selection committee to narrow down the field and choose just two candidates, but we felt like Lily and Cameron both stood out. We are excited to be able to support their development as biologists.”
“It is so satisfying to know that these fellowships will help well-deserving students supplement their academic training with valuable field work on wolves and thus foster the preparations for their careers,” stated Mech.
Heinzel isn’t her first family member to have a tie to wolf research and Dr. Mech. Her grandfather, Richard Reichle, worked with Dr. Mech at the University of Minnesota’s Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve on one of his early telemetry projects.
“I feel so honored to represent my family, women, and inspired young scientists with the research this Fellowship will fund,” she said. “I have been working towards this point since high school when I read my grandfather Richard’s copy of The Arctic Wolf: Living with the Pack by Dave Mech.”
Heinzel said she will use the funding to study conservation genetics research on wolves in the Great Lakes region (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan).
“I will be working in Dr. Kristin Brzeski’s lab at Michigan Technological University using genetic sequencing to estimate baseline genetic variation, ancestry, relatedness, inbreeding, and gene flow of gray wolves,” she said. “My statistics degree will come in handy when the genotyping is complete and RStudio is used to analyze the data for peer-reviewed publication. It is important to establish a baseline of regional gray wolf population structure and genetic health prior to any new management action in the state of Michigan.”
The mission of the International Wolf Center is to advance the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future. Since the Center’s founding in 1985 by Dr. Mech and others, it has sought to provide the latest scientific information about wolves to our members, visitors, program participants and the general public.
Mech is a Senior Research Scientist with the Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, and Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. He has studied wolves and their prey since 1958, as well as several other species of wildlife.
Canada: BC quietly renews controversial wolf cull for another 5 years to save caribou
From DailyHive.com:
The BC government has decided to renew the wolf cull program by another five years in its efforts to recover woodland caribou populations, Pacific Wild learned during a call with provincial officials.
The province has confirmed with Daily Hive the “aerial wolf reduction program” has been given the green light.
Click here for the full story.
Greece: Rapentosa residents believe wild wolf responsible for attack on dog
From the Greek City Times in Greece:
Volunteers from Greece’s Civil Protection posted on their Facebook page photos of two stray dogs, who seem to have been attacked by a wild animal, most likely by a wolf.
They rely on testimonies from local residents, who claim to have seen a wolf in the area of Rapentosa.
Click here for the full story.
Montana Curbs Wolf Hunt After 23 from Yellowstone Killed
From the Flathead Beacon in Montana:
BILLINGS – Montana wildlife commissioners on Friday moved to shut down gray wolf hunting in a portion of the state around Yellowstone National Park, amid mounting criticism over a record number of the animals shot or trapped after roaming across the park boundary this winter.
But commissioners rejected calls to revive quotas that would limit the number of wolves killed along Yellowstone’s northern border to just a few annually. Those longstanding quotas were lifted last year after Republican lawmakers passed laws intended to drive down the wolf population by making it easier to kill the animals.
Click here for the full story.
Mutation That Gave Us Tiny Dogs Found in Ancient Wolves
From smithsonianmag.com:
Looking at a snorting French bulldog or a prancing Pomeranian it can be hard to grasp how these pint-sized pooches could have possibly descended from wolves, which today routinely exceed 100 pounds and can take down bison.
Given the huge size difference between wolves and the littlest dogs, it’s easy to assume the genetic changes that brought about the supreme smallness of Chihuahuas and their ilk only appeared as humans started domesticating dogs, about 15,000 years ago.
Click here for the full story.
The International Wolf Center is excited to announce the first two winners of the Dr. L. David Mech Fellowships.
The International Wolf Center is excited to announce the first two winners of the Dr. L. David Mech Fellowships. They are Lily Heinzel and Cameron Ho.
Both students will receive a $6,000 stipend and up to $4,000 in support for field research expenses. The International Wolf Center, which Mech founded in 1985, funds the fellowships.
Heinzel is a senior at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Ho graduated from the University of Washington in June 2021.
“We were thrilled at the quality of applicants,” said the Center’s Executive Director, Grant Spickelmier. “With this being the first year for the fellowships, we didn’t know what to expect. It was hard for the selection committee to narrow down the field and choose just two candidates, but we felt like Lily and Cameron both stood out. We are excited to be able to support their development as biologists.”
“It is so satisfying to know that these fellowships will help well-deserving students supplement their academic training with valuable field work on wolves and thus foster the preparations for their careers,” stated Mech.
Heinzel isn’t her first family member to have a tie to wolf research and Dr. Mech. Her grandfather, Richard Reichle, worked with Dr. Mech at the University of Minnesota’s Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve on one of his early telemetry projects.
“I feel so honored to represent my family, women, and inspired young scientists with the research this Fellowship will fund,” she said. “I have been working towards this point since high school when I read my grandfather Richard’s copy of The Arctic Wolf: Living with the Pack by Dave Mech.”
Heinzel said she will use the funding to study conservation genetics research on wolves in the Great Lakes region (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan).
“I will be working in Dr. Kristin Brzeski’s lab at Michigan Technological University using genetic sequencing to estimate baseline genetic variation, ancestry, relatedness, inbreeding, and gene flow of gray wolves,” she said. “My statistics degree will come in handy when the genotyping is complete and RStudio is used to analyze the data for peer-reviewed publication. It is important to establish a baseline of regional gray wolf population structure and genetic health prior to any new management action in the state of Michigan.”
The mission of the International Wolf Center is to advance the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future. Since the Center’s founding in 1985 by Dr. Mech and others, it has sought to provide the latest scientific information about wolves to our members, visitors, program participants and the general public.
Mech is a Senior Research Scientist with the Biological Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, and Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. He has studied wolves and their prey since 1958, as well as several other species of wildlife.
Grizzer, an ambassador wolf at the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, was euthanized Thursday, Jan. 27.
Contact: Grant Spickelmier, Executive Director
Office: 763-233-7132
grant@wolf.org
New officers elected on International Wolf Center Board of Directors
There are new faces leading the International Wolf Center’s Board of Directors. At its meeting in December, the Center’s board elected two new officers.
The new chair of the Board of Directors is Judy Hunter.
Hunter is a retired CEO of a Girl Scout Council. She became involved with the International Wolf Center after moving to Minnesota and started volunteering in several areas, including its Alpha Legacy donor program. After she joined the Board of Directors in 2012, those opportunities expanded to include participation on the Development Committee and chairing the 2013 Symposium Task Force. She was co-chair of the 2018 International Wolf Symposium and is serving in the same capacity for the event in October 2022.
“I believe in our work providing education about wolves and believe we must help the next generation understand the environment and the role we play in its balance,” she said. “The Center has a staff, both professional and volunteer, who are dedicated to our mission. It is exciting to be an active part of the team.”
The board’s vice chair is now Rick Duncan, a Minneapolis-based attorney.
Duncan practices in the fields of environmental law, federal Indian law, and commercial litigation. He has extensive experience in the Endangered Species Act and the Wilderness Act, statutes critical to wolf conservation, and received the Sierra Club’s William O. Douglas Award in 2007. Duncan attended Yale Law School, and has been an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.
Hunter and Duncan replace two longtime officers for the International Wolf Center. Nancy Jo Tubbs served as the board chair since the 1990’s while Dr. L. David Mech, the founder of the Center, served as vice chair. Both remain on the Board of Directors and will serve as ex-officio members of the Executive Committee for the next year to aid in the transition.
New board member welcomed
The Center also welcomed a new board member, Madan Menon.
Menon, who lives in Milpitas, California, is the COO and a board member at Innovative International Acquisition Corp, (NASDAQ: IOAC), with a 17-year career in technology startups spanning multiple countries. He specializes in building companies from the ground up, having successfully built over six companies across India, Singapore and the United States.
His love for animals from an early age had him build an interest in wildlife and conservation efforts. Outside of his work, Madan loves spending time with his family and enjoys trail running along with biking and swimming.
The International Wolf Center was founded in 1985. Its mission is to advance the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future.
Without Federal Protection, Yellowstone’s Wolves Are Being Decimated
From the Sierra Club:
Rick McIntyre spent last May doing what he has done nearly every morning for the past 26 years: observing wolves in Yellowstone National Park. It was a special time. One of the Junction Butte pack’s breeding females, 907, had recently given birth, and her eight pups had emerged from the den. Often, up to 300 people joined McIntyre on the campground road where he set up his spotting scope so they could watch the pups nursing, wrestling, and tumbling about with the yearlings.
“Seeing the wolf family at their den was likely the best wildlife viewing opportunity in the world at the time,” recalls McIntyre, who has written several books based on his careful observations of Yellowstone’s wolves.
Click here for the full story.
Wolves may help keep deer — and brainworm — away from moose, MN study finds
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota:
Could having wolves in the area help keep deer and moose apart, and thus spare moose from a deadly parasite that’s spread by deer?
That’s the finding of a new study by University of Minnesota and Grand Portage Band scientists who found that having wolves around caused deer and moose to split up more, decreasing the likelihood that deer will spread parasitic brainworm to moose.
Click here for the full story.
‘Threatening’ Swiss wolf shot without permit
From SwissInfo.ch:
A game warden in Switzerland has shot dead a wolf without prior permission because the animal appeared to be stalking people.
The wolf was being monitored in the southeastern canton of Graubünden after its behaviour gave rise to concerns, reports Swiss public broadcaster SRF.
Click here for the full story.