A recognized authority on shorebirds, Professor Colwell was commended by President Richmond “for his many years of service to HSU and his involvement of many students in his research.” During the past 18 years, Dr. Colwell has served as thesis chair or adviser to more than 25 graduate students.
“This award is especially significant,” President Richmond said, “because Professor Colwell comes from one of the strongest departments at the University and one of the preeminent wildlife programs in the United States.”
Using Humboldt Bay as his research laboratory, Professor Colwell takes advantage of the bay’s location along the Pacific flyway to study the ecology of migrant water birds, and shorebirds in particular. Shorebirds have been a focal group for understanding spatial ecology, mating systems, parental care, and the fitness consequences of habitat use. He has routinely applied his knowledge to enhance conservation and management of water birds.
His research projects include long-term population monitoring and conservation and management of the Western Snowy Plover. He also is examining the dynamics of roosting sandpipers which winter on Humboldt Bay. These sandpipers are often seen in large flocks as one drives between Arcata and Eureka.
A birder from childhood in Oregon, Professor Colwell is the author of more than 60 scientific papers, and since 2000 alone he has received more than $320,000 in research grants. In 1995, he was a recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to Russia. In addition to Russia, he has traveled to Alaska, Central America, Samoa and Australia to study birds.
He is an elective member of the American Ornithologists’ Union and worked as a post-doctoral research associate at the University of North Dakota, 1987-1989. He earned his Ph.D. in biology there in 1987 and started teaching at Humboldt State in 1989. He became a full professor at HSU in 1998.
The subjects of Professor Colwell’s publications include the reproductive success of sandpipers, the population dynamics of plovers and winter shorebird communities using the tidal flats of Humboldt Bay.