WOMEN IN SEABIRD SCIENCE
Nahíra Arocho
she/her
Conservation Biologists
Contractor biologist for the Caribbean National Wildlife Refuge Complex, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Discipline
Behaviour, Conservation, Project Management, Reproductive Biology & Life History
Regional Focus
Caribbean, Puerto Rico
Years Active
6-10 years
Species Focus
Frigatebirds (Fregatidae), Gulls and Terns (Laridae), Pelecans (Pelecanidae), Tropicbirds (Phaethontidae), Petrels and Shearwaters (Procellariidae)
Tell us about your work with seabirds.
Currently as a contractor Biologist for the USFWS Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex, co-founded the Coastal Bird Breeding Program where we monitor the reproductive success of Least Terns in the salt flats of the Cabo Rojo NWR. We also have social attraction sound system for Least Terns on an elevated platform and manage invasive species. Also, working with the monitoring of seabird nesting on Desecheo Island and with social attraction systems for several seabird species including the Sargasso Shearwater and the Black-capped Petrel. She has worked with other researchers and partners to conduct seabird populations surveys in many of the cays and islands of the Puerto Rico Archipelago for the past 8 years.
What advice would you offer to individuals aspiring to pursue a career as seabird scientists?
My hope is to see more women in the field. There is still much to do. Believe that you are capable and belong in this field. Continue to push boundaries and fill space in management and leadership positions as well to move forward conservation.
Nahíra Arocho wearing a turquoise shirt and blue pants with binoculars in front of a Magnificent Frigatebird colony on Monito Island, Puerto Rico. The ocean is in the background. We were doing seabird monitoring on the island for a week during the peak breeding season.
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