Starting in 1979, Tim Shields documented how growing numbers of ravens in the Mojave Desert preyed on—and increasingly imperiled—the desert tortoises he studied for decades. In 2012, he went to the lab to create tools to address the threat. Among the first discoveries was the exquisite sensitivity of ravens to laser light. The talk will describe the work he has done on non-lethal bird management and his focus on reducing raven predation on a range of threatened and endangered species. He’ll then describe the innovative use of emerging technology by OrniLogic, showing examples of several devices and methods that have borne fruit over the last 12 years. One highlight will be the role of raven psychology in designing the methods used in thwarting them. The planned application of OrniLogic’s tools to reduce raven predation on the snowy plover colony at Ormond Beach will follow, giving a Ventura County focus to the talk.

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The 1974 graduate of Santa Paula High and alumni of Ventura Junior College is excited to bring this story back to the place where he became a biologist.