Melinda Wood is joining the South Sound Bird Alliance Board starting December 1st. Melinda is a wonderful addition to our team. She grew up in Shelton and then moved to Olympia to attend The Evergreen State College, receiving both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Environmental Studies degrees. After earning her Bachelor’s in 2014, she moved to Costa Rica for a few months to volunteer in mist-netting neotropical migratory birds with the MoSI (Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal) Program which monitors birds during the non-breeding season.
Melinda completed her Master’s degree in 2024 where she focused on “Phenological Asynchrony Between Onset of Green-Up and Spring Arrival of Migratory Songbirds of Conservation Concern in Alaska”. While finishing grad school, Melinda worked as a seasonal Avian Technician at Ecostudies Institute monitoring Streaked Horned Larks on JBLM to find color-banded birds, to mist-net and band both adults and nestlings, to locate territories and monitored nests, and to also assist with Western Bluebird banding. She absolutely loved that job and her co-workers. Now she works as a permanent employee with WDFW and is excited to see where that takes her.
Melinda came to SSBA attention when she helped with our nest box project at Wolf Haven. Then she found nesting Western Bluebirds at Johns Prairie in Mason County. We now have 10 nest boxes installed there and look forward to watching what develops next spring. Melinda also helps Maria Ruth with the Pigeon Guillemot surveys and volunteers with Wolf Haven International assisting with educational booths and visitor tours and monitoring wildlife trail cameras on the prairie.
Welcome, Melinda; we are thrilled to have you!
