Featured Scientist

Benjamin Francis Lewis (AKA “Big Ben”), who works out of Fresno, has been the CDFW Central Region’s Upland Game Bird Coordinator position since 2008. Over the past decade, Lewis has had the opportunity to work with several game and non-game species in a wide variety of projects, but his primary focus during his career with CDFW has been upland game birds. He has had the opportunity to work on projects such as banding doves, conducting quail brood counts, planting pheasants, capturing turkeys and staffing upland game check stations. Ben says that every day, he observes and learns something new about upland bird species.

Ben earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biology, with an emphasis in ecology and anatomy/physiology and a minor in chemistry, from California State University, Fresno.

Who or what inspired you to become a wildlife biologist?

As a child, I was the curious sort, always trying to take something apart or figure out how something worked. I also fell in love with the outdoors at a very young age. My mother often reminded me that my first word was “outside” and that I would stand by a door and say it repeatedly until I was let out.

One of my earliest memories is of a small spider, no bigger than a pea, perched atop a piece of canvas. It was a very nice day out, cool with a slight breeze, and for some reason this spider caught my eye. The way it moved with the breeze, rocking and ebbing in perfect sync, mesmerized me. I was trying to understand what it was doing; I thought perhaps it was injured and was moving with the wind due to an inability to resist it? Then in a flash, the spider sprang forth with amazing speed and accuracy and in an instant I realized what it was doing. In its grasp was a fly, one of many that were stationed upon the canvas as well. In that moment in my mind was the feeling of profound understanding, and from that day forward I was hooked.

The desire to understand the world around me is what ultimately led me to the sciences. Of course, some amazing teachers also helped point me in the right direction along the way. A special thank you to Ms. Lawrence, Mr. Slothower, Mr. Scott, Mr. Rouse, Ms. Niboli, Ms. Charnels, Dr. Blumenshine and, of course, my mother, Catherine Lewis.

Who or what brought you to CDFW? What inspires you to stay?

I may be one of the luckiest people on the planet. After graduation I had still not secured a job in the wildlife field, and believe you me it was not for a lack of trying. Up until that point, the only jobs I had were manual labor positions I took to pay for school. My first real opportunity came in the form of an interview with Fresno Wildlife Management Supervisor Kevin O’Connor. At the end of the interview he offered me the scientific aid position and asked me when I could start. I was soon introduced to the rest of the team, and I had never met a more positive and supportive group of people. Soon the group felt less like coworkers and more like family. I enjoyed the work so much that when my seasonal hours were up, I came back as a volunteer until I was hired on again as a seasonal employee and, eventually, as an environmental scientist (wildlife biologist).

What is the most rewarding project that you’ve worked on for CDFW?

This is a tough one because I draw a great deal of satisfaction from many of the projects that I have had the opportunity to work on over the years, from running special hunts that get our next generation into the field, to working on habitat improvement projects.

If I have to pick one project, I would have to say it is providing hunting opportunities to the public through habitat work and putting on special upland game bird hunts. Getting people outside into the field creates a connection with wildlife and a vested interest in conservation and proper management. Working with the public and seeing those connections form has been the most rewarding part of the job.

If you had free reign and unlimited funding, what scientific project would you most like to do?

It would have to involve two of my favorite things: California quail and gallinaceous guzzlers (artificial water sources for wildlife). Starting in the 1950s, gallinaceous guzzlers were built in arid regions of California to provide water for upland game birds. Many of these original guzzlers have withstood the test of time and still serve wildlife today. They are comprised of four main parts: an apron, a water tank, an exclusion fence and brush piles. The apron is a flat surface that is sloped to collect rainwater and drain into the guzzler tank. The water storage tank serves as both a water storage vessel and an access point for wildlife. The exclusion fence keeps cattle from accessing the guzzler area and causing damage, and brush piles create habitat and are essential for providing cover from predators while they are drinking from the guzzler. These oases of life provide stable water sources in a harsh environment and are important to game and non-game species alike, particularly during periods of prolonged drought.

Specific to the California quail, I would love to look at home range, fecundity (the ability to produce an abundance of offspring) survivorship and find a way quantify the importance of the guzzlers in relationship to productivity. To be honest, there is a lot of work I would like to do with upland game birds that range from food studies to reintroductions. However, you know what they say: “Be not afraid of moving slowly, and instead be afraid of standing still.”

What is the most challenging aspect of your career as an environmental scientist?

That would have to be the paperwork -- well, OK, paperwork is a close second. The major challenge is working with the public on human-wildlife conflict. In most cases, the solution to these problems can be summed up with one simple phase: “Leave it alone.” Here in CDFW’s Central Region, we have created a kind of mascot called “Leave It Alone Larry the Lion.” We often talk about creating a public service announcement where kids are walking through the park and find a fledgling of some kind on the ground next to a tree. One child asks the other, “What should we do?” And then Leave it Alone Larry would pop in and say, “Leave it alone!”

More often than not, the best thing we can do when we come across wildlife is to not engage or interact at all.

What is the best thing about being a wildlife scientist?

The fact that it constantly reminds me that life is an adventure -- and an unpredictable one at that. The work can be challenging and many things do not necessarily make sense, but that is what I love about it. If we did not have questions to answer, we would not be able to call ourselves scientists.

Is there a preconception about scientists you would like to dispel?

We are not all huge nerds with glasses and lab coats … though I am a huge nerd, and I have glasses and more than one lab coat in my closet. What I mean to say is that there is no set mold for a scientist. We are a diverse and unique bunch with a common interest in finding answers to questions that baffle us. Oftentimes, we find new questions in the process.

What is it about the work you do that you would most like us to know?

The work I do, I do for you and the resource. We share common goals, no matter who we are or where we come from.

Richard Brody is a Southern California native who grew up “a stone’s throw” from the CDFW project he now manages, the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve. Like many CDFW scientists, he took a circuitous route to working for the department, dabbling in early punk rock, owning an employment agency, home building and delivering large sailboats on the open ocean. Eventually he married, settled back into school and began a career in environmental science. Richard did his undergraduate work in water policy at Cal, and then went to graduate school at UCLA, studying Fluvial Geomorphology and Wetland Restoration. Today, he and his wife are raising two daughters in the open space of Topanga Canyon.

How did you come to CDFW?

After graduate school, I worked in the world of environmental consulting for over a decade. I was a wetland delineator and restoration specialist, and I got to know and highly respect the work CDFW was doing. In my mind, the holy grail of private restoration work was to one day manage a wetland reserve and have the time to concentrate on making a solid difference at one important location. Through my relationships at CDFW, I learned of the Ballona Land Manager position and was told that I would be an asset to CDFW. I was fortunate enough to be offered the position after a very competitive process.

What does the Region 5 lands program encompass?

The South Coast Region’s lands program manages coastal and inland properties from Santa Barbara County to the border of Mexico. These properties include maritime chaparral and sage-scrub communities, oak woodlands, grasslands, coastal bays, lagoons and estuaries. We manage these threatened habitats to protect them, but there are some passive recreation and educational uses allowed also. These vary from reserve to reserve.

What is Ballona and why is it important?

The Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve is the largest and last remaining opportunity for major coastal habitat restoration in Los Angeles County. It is located on the edge of one of the largest concrete jungles on the planet and also along the Pacific Flyway. Historically, this area provided a much larger stopover, resting and foraging area for migratory birds than is available today. There are corners of the Reserve that provide some estuarine and aquatic function, but only after years of coordination with our federal and local partners to restore some tidal flow. These areas are now a case study of what is possible and the immense potential this degraded Reserve offers. In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, the world’s largest man-made small craft harbor was dredged out right next to where the Reserve now sits. Dredging of this harbor, channelizing Ballona Creek and building the surrounding community all contributed to the reduction of the once approximately 2,000-acre wetland to less than 600 acres today. Very little of the remaining wetland has any describable function anymore. In fact, the Howard Hughes Corporation accepted more than 3 million cubic yards of fill from the marina dredging to be dumped in the former wetlands.

This is the biggest challenge ahead of us – getting the Reserve back down to sea level and reconnecting Ballona Creek with its floodplain so the land can function as a coastal wetlands again. Restoring Ballona will offer hundreds of now-unavailable acres to wetland-dependent species that have been displaced all along our coastline and are now clinging to existence in the Los Angeles area. I tell my kids that the Once-ler came through Ballona and left a mess and that it is my job to help make the pond wet again and bring back the Swomee-Swans and the Humming-Fish. (The Once-ler is the narrator and a character in The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.)

If you had unlimited money for Ballona what would you do?

I would fast-track the restoration, acquire all other nearby available land for more open space and build a world-class visitor and research center at the Reserve.

What is your vision for Ballona?

Aside from the obvious restoration effort, Ballona has always been a politically charged place of many factions and competing interests. One of my top priorities is bringing people closer together here. The overwhelming majority of us have the same goal in mind – to make this a special place along the California coast. We don’t see eye-to-eye on every issue, but we have already made progress in communication. That’s the best place to start.

What species are documented at Ballona and what do we think will come there (or return) when the restoration is complete?

We currently have three species that are listed as threatened and/or endangered, as well as 11 species of special concern. This is compared to 18 threatened and endangered species and nearly 100 species of special concern that are documented to have once existed at Ballona, or are still in the area but have insufficient habitat to return. I am the eternal optimist who feels that if we get this restoration off the ground, we have the potential for most, if not all, of these species to be documented here again.

The El Segundo blue butterfly (Euphilotes battoides allyni) is federally endangered and listed by the state as critically imperiled. It’s the cutest little butterfly on the planet. It used to be primarily restricted to the LAX dunes about five miles away, but the Friends of Ballona worked tirelessly over the last decade clearing iceplant and planting seacliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium). This is the only host plant for this species that it uses in all of its life stages. Once it was planted, the butterflies came. The highest count we have seen recently was more than 500 butterflies. This is a huge success story and testament to how successful restoration can be at Ballona. Every summer, the Friends hold a butterfly festival in honor of all their hard and successful work.

In addition to the El Segundo Blue Butterfly, other threatened and endangered species breeding or overwintering at Ballona now include the Belding’s savannah sparrow and the least Bell’s Vireo. Our species of special concern include the legless lizard, burrowing owl and Orcutt’s pincushion, among others. We would like to someday reintroduce Ventura marsh milkvetch, a plant species formally thought to be extinct.

What would you tell a high school student who wants to study environmental science?

Choose a field that suits your lifestyle. I once had a biology instructor tell me that if you’re planning your field of research, why not study the thoracic region of tropical lobster? You’ll have to dive all day in the Maldives and bring home lobster tails every day. That’s a metaphor, but you get my meaning. Now you know why I specialize in coastal wetlands. Surfing and shorebirds, what more could a guy ask for?

Any final thoughts?

What I love most about Ballona is people’s passion and Ballona’s potential. To have this tiny little bit of tidal wetlands available to us, and the wildlife species that are here is an incredible opportunity.

Many people have told me that they can feel their blood pressure actually go down when they leave the concrete jungle, get off the 90 freeway, head down Culver Boulevard and see the open space of Ballona. That simple example shows how important open space is here in Los Angeles County. I often use the functions and values test here. Functions are measurable – we can measure water quality, biodiversity or habitat. But values are not as tangible. Ballona has an intrinsic value, and it brings a sense of well-being that is almost lost in coastal Los Angeles.

Colleen Young is an Environmental Scientist for CDFW’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center in Santa Cruz. Her primary job duties include oil spill contingency planning for sea otters and other marine wildlife, maintaining response equipment and working as part of the Wildlife Recovery team during spills.

During non-spill times, Colleen’s responsibilities shift to sea otter research and conservation projects. This work includes ground and aerial sea otter census surveys, sea otter stranding response, performing postmortem examinations on sea otters and occasionally other species, tagging and monitoring wild sea otters and working on sea otter disturbance issues. She is on the CDFW SCUBA diving team and is one of two CDFW divers trained to use re-breathers to capture sea otters. These projects are done in close collaboration with the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, UC Santa Cruz, Sea Otter Savvy and other partner organizations.

Colleen earned a B.S. in Animal Biology from UC Davis in 2006 and an M.S. in Marine Science with an emphasis in Vertebrate Ecology from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories/San Jose State University in 2009. She began working as a scientific aide for CDFW in 2010 and was hired for her current position in 2011. Colleen is grateful to have a job that involves working with such an ecologically important, threatened species, and that allows her to work outside and live along California’s beautiful Central Coast.

Who or what inspired you to become a scientist?

I had some really amazing science teachers in high school that showed me that science was really fun and interesting. When I started volunteering to help with research projects when I was an undergraduate in college, I knew that doing scientific research was something that I wanted to pursue further. When I got certified to SCUBA dive and started doing research in and around the ocean, I knew I wanted to do that for a career.

What got you interested in working with wildlife?

Growing up we had lots of pets, so I’ve always had a deep connection with and respect for animals. I considered pursuing a career involving companion animals, but I really enjoy working outside, in nature, and wild animals absolutely fascinate and amaze me. I was hooked on wildlife after doing an internship studying wild bottlenose dolphins.

Who or what brought you to CDFW? What inspires you to stay?

Just after finishing graduate school I was hired to work at the CDFW office in Santa Cruz to work on some grant-funded seabird projects. I really enjoyed the work that I was doing and saw great value in the sea otter work that my CDFW colleagues were doing, so when a permanent job became available, applying was a no-brainer. I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon, since I love my job and I get to live in this beautiful place.

What is a typical day like for you at work?

There is no such thing as a typical day for me, which is just the way I like it. It is very unusual for me to spend a whole day working at my desk. You can usually find me working in our necropsy lab, on the beach responding to a stranded sea otter call, working on oil spill preparedness (testing equipment, working on protocols, etc.) or doing a proficiency dive with my dive buddy so we’re ready for our next round of sea otter captures. At the end of the day, I always try to read and respond to emails, but I often get interrupted by a stranding call, so I can’t always answer emails as quickly as I’d like.

What is the most rewarding project that you’ve worked on for CDFW?

I think probably the Santa Barbara oil spill near Refugio State Beach in 2015. This was my first major spill since starting at the Department and I worked as part of the Wildlife Recovery team. It was really rewarding to collect all those oiled animals, which likely would’ve died without our help.

Over the course of your career, was there a discovery or an incident that surprised you?

I am surprised all the time! A big part of my job is performing necropsies (animal autopsies) on sea otters, and sometimes other species as well. Often it looks like the cause of death will be obvious, but when we get inside we see all sorts of weird, unexpected things. That’s one of the things that keeps my job fun and interesting … we never know what we’re going to find!

If you had free reign and unlimited funding, what scientific project would you most like to do?

I would love to work more on one of my ongoing projects, which is looking into the mechanism by which some sea otters acquire purple staining on their teeth and bones. This phenomenon, known as echinochrome staining, has been documented for decades, and is extremely common in sea otters. It almost certainly occurs when sea otters consume copious amounts of echinochrome-containing prey items like sea urchins and other echinoderms, but the mechanism and physiology of the process has not been described. I would love to have time (and funding) to really understand how and when staining occurs, and whether there are any individual health implications, or broader ecological implications, of this process. Until I have unlimited time and funding though, I’ll just keep working on this project a little at a time.

What is the best thing about being a wildlife scientist?

I get to spend so much time outside being active. I spend a lot of time on the beach, on the ocean and in the ocean (diving), and most of it is pretty physical, so I get to exercise and spend time in nature as part of my job. Oh, and working with animals is pretty cool too. Doesn’t get any better than that!

The world of science and managing natural resources is often confusing or mysterious for the average person. What is it about the work you do that you’d most like us to know that will take away the mystery?

Effective management of natural resources should be based on good scientific data. It takes time to develop protocols, to collect and analyze data, and to summarize and disseminate findings. So sometimes when it looks like no action is being taken on an issue there are probably people working hard behind the scenes on it. Furthermore, it can be difficult for one program or even one agency to collect all the adequate scientific data that is needed to make good management decisions. Therefore, collaboration is key. Agencies and organizations often work together to collect data and implement management decisions. In the case of sea otters, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has management authority, but CDFW and other agencies and organizations work collaboratively with USFWS to collect and share data that help inform management decisions. Having multiple partners can sometimes slow things down, but in the end usually yields better results.

Is there a preconception about scientists you would like to dispel?

I can speak most to marine biologists. When most people think of marine biologists, they picture someone training and hugging dolphins, or getting up close and personal with cute, charismatic animals all the time. In reality though, marine biology is not very glamorous or easy work. It often requires working long hours, sometimes very early or late, depending on the tides. You are often wet, cold, dirty and stinky. Many biologists never even lay hands on the animals they are studying … they collect and/or study scat (poop), tracks and photographs, and make observations from afar. Some biologists, like me, mainly study their species by examining dead animals, which can be stinky and gross, but also extremely interesting and informative.

Any advice for people considering careers in science or natural resources?

Get as much hands-on field experience as possible. Not only does that allow you to figure out what types of work you do and do not like, but having field experience is a huge advantage when applying for jobs. Also, attend conferences and events that will allow you to network with people who have careers you are interested in. Ask them questions about what they do and don’t like about their jobs, and what kind of experience and education you need to get that type of job.