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ANSREW CAVEN: I have a masterís from the University of Georgia in wildlife ecology and management thatís focused on habitat.

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ANDREW CAVEN: You learn more from working in the field than youíre ever going learn in school.  We need people who can do everything. Some people are going to say, well, Iím just interested in small mammals, or Iím just interested in ducks. But if you really want to find work in this field, you really have to be open to everything.

NARRATOR: Andyís goal at the Crane Trust is to advance the conservation of animals and native plants, and to ensure biological diversity.

ANSREW CAVEN: I think we need to know what we have, and where it is, or we canít manage for it, and I think diversity is important and itís disappearing. If your plant diversity collapses, your insect diversity collapses because you have insects that are completely married to one plant or another in their lifecycle. Weíre seeing a huge decline in butterflies, and one thing weíre doing this summer here is monitoring silver-bordered fritillary, regal fritillary and monarch butterflies. And weíre doing that because those species are seeing a huge, huge precipitous decline, and theyíre so important to the web of life.

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NARRATOR: Environmental conditions are changing rapidly, resulting in widespread declines in populations of at-risk species globally. Without regular monitoring, including vegetation, bird, and small mammal surveys, there is no way to know how these species of concern are doing.

KELSEY KING: I think the most important thing when youíre dealing with wildlife is to be sensitive to how theyíre feeling.

KELSEY KING: Yeah, it looks like sheís just cut one finger. So, sheíll be okay.

KELSEY KING: Also to, like, put yourself in their shoes. So, think about theyíre scared, or what kind of habitat that they like if youíre trying to track them. Thatís a really useful skill, like being able to think the way they do. Just because it helps you find good spots to camera trap, or good spots to lay your traps. I think that just doing the projects Iím working on with the small mammals, mesocarnivores, and mostly running the monarch surveys that weíve been doing have been really helpful just to give us an idea where stuff is and whatís going on, and ideas for how we can manage this land in a way thatís going to preserve species that might not be at risk now but could be at risk in the future.

(CRANES CRYING)