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Dr. Jordan Herman joined HawkWatch International (HWI) in March 2021. As the Conservation Biologist on the Conservation Science team, Jordan leads a collaborative, multi-agency research initiative focused on improving monitoring of the threatened Mexican Spotted Owl in the Colorado Plateau. In partnership with the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, she is evaluating the use of passive acoustic monitoring and autonomous recording units (ARUs) to survey owls in remote canyon environments. This work will result in a scalable and flexible monitoring tool that can be used by land managers across the species’ range in rocky canyon habitats.  

Jordan also supports a variety of research and conservation initiatives focused on Golden Eagles, including long-term Golden Eagle nest monitoring and the Eagle Vehicle Strike Program, where she is developing a predictive model of eagle-vehicle strike risk across the western United States to identify hotspots and prioritize mitigation efforts.  

Hailing from Madison, WI, Jordan received her B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in 2011. Before joining HWI, her research focused on breeding songbirds, taking her to field sites throughout the Galápagos Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Argentina. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Utah in 2020, where she studied how nest flies, brood parasites, and predators influence the reproductive success of Chalk-browed Mockingbirds. She began her transition into raptor research as a postdoctoral fellow studying the anti-parasite behavior in American Kestrels in Utah.  

Outside of work, Jordan enjoys gardening, reading fantasy and sci-fi fiction, and exploring Utah’s diverse landscapes on foot with her husband, Joey. Together, they maintain a lively assortment of chickens and other odd pets, build large-scale art projects with friends in Salt Lake City, and are looking forward to exploring the American West in their “new” 2001 Volkswagen Eurovan.