1.What is
your job title and what do you do at your
job?
Cynthia:
My
job title is Wildlife Biologist/Karst
Coordinator. I do a lot of different
things as a Wildlife Biologist, but here
are some of the biggest tasks:
NEPA
(National Environmental Policy Act) -
NEPA requires all federal agencies to
include environmental values into their
decision making processes. On the
Hoosier, this means that we have to
evaluate the potential environmental
impacts of just about every project we
complete. I spend a lot of time
evaluating effects on fish and wildlife
species especially Federally threatened
and endangered species. These species
include the Indiana bat, gray bat, bald
eagle, fanshell mussel, and the rough
pigtoe mussel. As Karst Coordinator, I
review every project on the Forest to
ensure that they will not have negative
impacts on cave ecosystems.
Cave
Inventory - The Hoosier is working to
nominate many of our caves as significant
under the Federal Resources Protection
Act of 1988. To qualify for listing as a
significant cave, a cave must meet one or
more of the following criteria: biota,
cultural, geologic, mineralogical,
paleontology, geomorphic, hydrologic,
recreational, educational and scientific.
The majority of our nominations are
completed by volunteer cavers, but
occasionally I get the chance to crawl
around in caves looking for cave
creatures and other special values.
Cynthia is in a
narrow opening in a cave.
(Photograph courtesy Cynthia Sandeno)
Environmental
Education - I do several programs
throughout the year on a variety of
topics related to wildlife. My biggest
commitment to environmental education
each year is the Hoosier's International
Migratory Bird Day Celebration (IMBD). I
am the coordinator for this annual event
which is held the third Saturday in May.
IMBD is a day to foster appreciation for
the nearly 350 species of migratory birds
that travel between nesting habitats in
North America and non-breeding grounds in
South and Central America, Mexico, the
Caribbean, and the southern U.S. The
whole day is designed to increase
knowledge of these important species and
the habitats that are necessary for their
persistence.
Inventory/Monitoring
- In order to make good resource decision
we have to know what animal species are
on the Hoosier and where they occur. One
of the most enjoyable parts of my job is
helping with mistnetting surveys for
bats, hibernacula counts for bats,
breeding bird surveys for birds, and
frog
surveys.
2. When did
you know you wanted to study/work with
caves?
Cynthia:
Working with
caves was not something that I had
planned. To be honest, I didn't really
realize that there were jobs that
involved working with caves and cave life
in Indiana. About three years ago, the
duties for our cave program on the
Hoosier came up, and I volunteered to
take on the responsibilities. That is one
of the best decisions I have ever made.
Continue to
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