Contacts
Joan Jewett or David Patte, 503-231-6121
Position reflects agency’s commitment to science leadership and partnerships as it addresses climate change impacts to fish, wildlife and plants
Longtime wildlife biologist and science leader Carol Schuler has been named Assistant Regional Director for Climate Change and Science Application for the Pacific Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Regional Director Robyn Thorson announced today. Schuler’s appointment will begin in early December.
Schuler, currently director of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center in Corvallis, Oregon, will lead the regional implementation of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s effort to respond to unprecedented threats to natural resources posed by climate change. She will oversee the development of a collaborative, landscape-level approach to conservation, consistent with the Department of the Interior’s commitment to building a coordinated strategy to respond to the impacts of climate change on the nation’s natural resources.
“Hiring Carol for this important new science position reflects our commitment to strong partnerships with universities, federal science centers and agencies, tribes, states, conservation groups and private partners,” Regional Director Thorson said. “She has the experience, the vision and the familiarity with both researchers and natural resource managers essential for collaborative science-based efforts to address climate change.”
The Service recently released a draft Climate Change Strategic Plan for public comment that complements the Department of the Interior’s Secretarial Order and calls for the creation of regional climate science partnerships and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) with universities, tribes, states, federal agencies and other partners and stakeholders. These LCCs are integral to the Service’s climate adaptation efforts, providing scientific and technical support to managers and partnerships responsible for developing and implementing conservation strategies at landscape scales in a changing climate.
Schuler will provide leadership to the Pacific Region's four LCCs: the Great Northern LCC, the North Pacific LCC, the Great Basin LCC and the Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative. The Great Northern encompasses the northern Rocky Mountains and most of the Columbia Basin; the North Pacific extends from northern California to southeast Alaska (in Oregon and Washington, this includes all the habitats west of the crest of the Cascades); the Great Basin includes the interior basins of southern Idaho, southeast Oregon, Nevada, western Utah, and small portions of northeastern California; and the Pacific Islands includes the Pacific Islands. The Pacific Region is the lead Service region for the North Pacific LCC and the Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative.
“Partnerships are the foundation of these landscape conservation efforts,” Regional Director Thorson said. “To conserve our natural resource heritage under changing climate conditions, we must work collaboratively. Carol excels in that approach.”
USGS Western Regional Director Anne Kinsinger praised Schuler’s selection, saying, “Carol has distinguished herself as a leader in USGS, and I am confident that she will strengthen the ties between our two agencies in addressing the climate change challenges ahead of us.”
Schuler comes to this new role after 6 years of experience working as Center Director of the USGS Rangeland and Ecosystem Science Center, where she led broad research programs in the West. These programs focused on wildlife and habitat issues in aquatic, coastal, forest, and arid-land ecosystems. Much of these research efforts are aimed at understanding the influences of system stressors (e.g., land use, invasive species, fire and climate change), describing changes across the landscape, and providing the scientific information to Department of the Interior agencies to support land and resource management. Schuler managed and supervised a diverse staff of more than 150 employees, including 25 Research Grade scientists, in four field stations in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
Prior to her USGS appointment, Schuler worked for more than 18 years for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Ecological Services, Refuges and Fisheries programs. She has served in several leadership and management positions in the Pacific Region, including manager of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex; Ecological Services Supervisor for Oregon, Washington, Idaho and the Pacific Islands; Supervisor of the Ecological Services and Fisheries programs in the North Pacific Coast and Pacific Islands Ecoregions; Deputy State Supervisor for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office; and Environmental Contaminants Specialist for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office.
Schuler spent her early years as a field biologist conducting a wide range of wildlife and habitat studies with several different agencies, universities, and organizations. She received undergraduate and graduate degrees from Eastern Kentucky University and Oregon State University in Wildlife Science, with minors in Plant Ecology and Toxicology.
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov
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