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WORKING WEEK

flightglobal.com 8-14 March 2016 | Flight International | 43

Yates flies migratory bird surveys for the US Fish and Wildlife Service

Summer survey led to dream job

After learning to fly through the family business, a passion for the outdoors saw Sarah Yates studying wildlife

conservation. When she supported a bird monitoring project, her skills were combined for the perfect career

WORK EXPERIENCE SARAH YATES

US Fish and Wildlife Service

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Where were you trained?

I was lucky enough to be born

into a flying family. My

grandfather started a flying

business in northern Maine –

Folsom’s Air Service – in the

1940s, after he returned from

World War II. My father took the

business over and taught me to

fly as a teenager. As far as my

education and training in biolo-

gy; I’ve always had a love for the

outdoors and natural history. I

graduated from the University of

Maine, Orono, with a wildlife

ecology degree and completed a

Master’s in wildlife conservation

at Antioch University in Keene,

New Hampshire.

Where did your career go from

that point?

I started flying scenic flights,

charter flights, and fire patrols for

the family business. While flying

for the air service one summer, I

was asked to fly an aerial bird

survey for the BioDiversity

Research Institute – a company

based out of southern Maine. I

flew the survey with a biologist

and told them I had a degree in

wildlife ecology and was looking

for employment in the field. This

chance meeting led to a full-time

job with the BioDiversity

Research Institute as a wildlife

technician and pilot. While fly-

ing was not my main duty, I did

fly all their wildlife aerial sur-

veys, which included common

loon and bald eagle surveys. I

learned about the biologist-pilots

that worked for the US Fish and

Wildlife Service (USFWS) and

was hired as temporary contrac-

tor to fly (right seat) during one of

their larger surveys to learn about

the programme. In the meantime,

I finished up my graduate degree

and ended up flying wildlife aer-

ial surveys for BioDiversity dur-

ing the BP Gulf of Mexico oil

spill in 2010-2011. Finally a job

opened up for a biologist-pilot

with the USFWS and I applied

and was hired in 2012.

What are your current duties?

I work for the USFWS migratory

bird programme branch of migra-

tory bird surveys. The mission is

to conserve bird populations and

their habitats, through careful

monitoring, effective manage-

ment, and by supporting national

and international partnerships

that conserve habitat for migrato-

ry birds and other wildlife. This

position serves in a dual capacity

as a wildlife biologist and an air-

plane pilot. Main duties include

designing and conducting aerial

surveys for wildlife. Data collec-

tion, data management, and anal-

ysis are regular components of

the job.

Can you give us an example of a

major project?

We tend to have surveys we fly

on an annual basis. One of these

is the Waterfowl Breeding

Population and Habitat Survey.

During this, we cover over 2 mil-

lion square acres of waterfowl

breeding habitat with airplanes

and helicopters. It is the largest

and longest-standing aerial sur-

vey in the world. It has provided

over 50 years’ [worth] of data for

waterfowl population and habi-

tat management. Long-standing

surveys like this are extremely

rare and it’s definitely a crown-

ing achievement of the US Fish

and Wildlife Service.

How do you know that your

work helps?

This survey has contributed

invaluable information about

waterfowl populations that has

been used to better manage

waterfowl in North America. Not

only is this survey invaluable for

assessing the population status

of many waterfowl species but

it’s also allowed for the conserva-

tion of vast habitats throughout

the United States and Canada.

What is most challenging about

your job?

There is a lot of travel involved

in this job. We don’t just fly sur-

veys in our regions; in fact a lot of

our surveys take place far away

from home and in other coun-

tries. That is the hardest part for

me. We all have families and it’s

always hard to leave them for

weeks at a time. Luckily, my

family thinks I have a pretty cool

job and I’ll always have some

interesting adventures and

stories to share with them. n

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