Michelle Hester

Ecologist Michelle Hester, president of Oikonos-Ecosystem Knowledge and a research associate with the California Academy of Sciences, has studied seabirds and island ecology in California, the Caribbean, and Antarctica.

Squawk of the Auklet

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Not many people get to visit Año Nuevo Island—you need a rubber boat, a strong stomach, and a research permit. But sea lions haul out here in droves, and hundreds of seabirds—including rhinoceros auklets—come to breed on its few wind-swept acres. Today, erosion is threatening the auklets’ deep burrows, so researchers are working to restore this critical breeding site for these strange-looking seabirds.