Date: 12/2/25 11:26 am From: Chuck & Lillian via groups.io <misclists...> Subject: [LACoBirds] SMBAS program Tues. 12/2 7:30 pm: Red Queen Recovery: The complicated story of why California Condor lead poisoning rates are increasing, with UCSC Prof. Dr. Myra Finkelstein.
Birders: Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society invites you to our monthly program later today:
Red Queen Recovery: The complicated story of why California Condor lead poisoning rates are increasing, with UCSC Prof. Dr. Myra Finkelstein. Zoom Evening Meeting, Tuesday, 2 December, 7:30 p.m. Zoom waiting room opens 7:15 p.m.
Despite two laws restricting the use of lead ammunition for hunting in California, California condor lead exposure rates and lead-related mortality have increased. I give an overview of condor lead poisoning trends over the past two decades highlighting our recent work that helps explain the observed increase in lead exposure. I also discuss how these legislative bans and non-lead outreach efforts have been effective and what is needed for condors to achieve self-sustainability in California.
Dr. Myra Finkelstein is an Adjunct Professor in the Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology Department at the University of California Santa Cruz. Her research focuses on human impacts to wildlife with an emphasis on contaminant-induced effects. Dr. Finkelstein has contributed significantly to understanding the chronic exposure to lead ammunition as the number one mortality factor for free-flying California Condors. Her research played a significant role in raising awareness of the lead ammunition issue which resulted in the passage of the bill to prohibit the use of lead ammunition for hunting throughout California, the first such law in the nation. Dr. Finkelstein has also led extensive research on plastic pollution and toxicology in marine seabirds, such as the Laysan and Black-footed Albatross. Dr. Finkelstein's work is part of a new hybrid approach to research using environmental toxicology to inform conservation biology. Join us as we learn more about this important and policy-relevant research.
