Meet #ScienceWoman Susan Adamowicz

Our #ScienceWoman campaign kicked off during Women’s History Month, and we’re going to keep on rolling! We’re looking forward by honoring women across the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and female conservationists who are making history in our agency and in conservation. With each #ScienceWoman, we’ll share a photo and a couple questions and answers about her work. Stay tuned for more posts later this week honoring Hurricane Sandy Women in Science.

Meet science woman Susan Adamowicz, Ph. D. She’s our Land Management Research and Demonstration Biologist at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. In her words: “I develop and execute innovative ways to restore salt marsh ecosystems, I also help coordinate the Salt Marsh Integrity assessment project.”

She’s studied at numerous prestigious schools, including BU, UVM, IU, SDSU and URI/GSO and lists her conservation heroes as Rachel Carson and Joy Adamson.

Q. How did you get interested in conservation? A. I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s and saw what people were doing to the planet – mostly in terms of pollution and animal extinction.  I had thought about being a wildlife veterinarian for a while but then decided there were enough of those.  But there were hardly any planet doctors.

Q. If you could have one animal adaptation, what would it be and why? A. I love salt marshes because I grew up alongside of them, and coastal systems are where things are happening on the natural and human scales.  We joke about having “salt marsh super power,” and my favorite would be to walk on mud like a Great Blue Heron.

See more #ScienceWoman profiles.

Meet #ScienceWoman Daffny Pitchford

Celebrate Women’s History Month with us! This year, we’re looking forward by honoring women across the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and female conservationists who are making history in our agency and in conservation. With each #ScienceWoman, we’ll share a photo and a couple questions and answers about her work. Stay tuned for posts throughout the month! Meet Daffny Pitchford, our refuge manager at the Potomac River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. She earned her degree at North Carolina Central University, where she studied biology.

Daffny considers Mamie Parker, former Regional Director of the Northeast, as one of her conservation heroes. “Her encouragement and wise words are always remembered on those busy days,” says Daffny.

Daffny became interested in nature and “all things wild” when she was young. Her and her father would often explore her backyard or go fishing in nearby creeks. She says her “favorite times as a youngster were spent either up a tree or in a creek catching frogs and crayfish.”

Her favorite species is the cardinal, because it was easy to identify as a child. Also, it’s the state bird of her home state, North Carolina.

Tune in again for more #ScienceWoman posts later this month!