The San Diego NWR welcomed Dwane Binns as the new manager for the Refuge in March 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dwane’s arrival here was delayed by several months, but he is now on site and actively engaged in all aspects of the Refuge.
Dwane was raised in New York and received a master’s degree in Environmental Science with an emphasis in animal ecology from Pace University. He began his wildlife career in New York, working for the Prospect Park Alliance, where he conducted bird and aquatic species surveys in Brooklyn. He joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) through the Directorate Fellowship Program, which took him to the Patuxent Research Refuge. There he conducted research related to the refuge’s butterfly populations. Most recently, he worked for the Service’s Inventory and Monitoring Program in Colorado. Stationed at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Dwane worked with refuge staff to develop plans that assess the priority of natural resources, and their monitoring and management.
He is excited to continue to meet the community members that neighbor the San Diego NWR. He brings a deep interest in connecting people with nature, particularly those in nearby communities, who but through access barriers or lack of knowledge about the Refuge, have not been visitors. Dwane is a leader within a community of practice at the Service that seeks to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion within the agency’s staff and with visitors to public lands.
Dwane sees the Refuge as a regional partner that provides ecological knowledge to the San Diego community, helping the public to cherish their environment and realize that ecology extends to their own backyard. “We are not above nature, from the smallest to the largest being, they are just as important as us, they need us and more importantly we need them,” says Dwane. You can connect with Dwane at Dwane_Binns@fws.gov or by phone at (619) 385-1190.
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