Dr Eric Woehler
About Eric
Dr Eric Woehler (OAM) is a seabird and shorebird ecologist based in lutruwita/Tasmania who has been involved in research, management and conservation of birds and their habitats his entire life.
Background
Dr Eric Woehler (OAM) is a seabird and shorebird ecologist based in nipaluna/Hobart, lutruwita/Tasmania. He has actively been involved in research directed towards conservation and management of birds and their habitats for his entire life. Eric is actively engaged with community-based efforts to protect coastal birds, using analyses of long-term data sets to provide evidence-based, data-driven guidance and advice to land managers.
Eric's current research foci are (1) population assessments (status, distribution and trends) of beach-nesting birds in lutruwita/Tasmania, including islands, and (2) seabirds at sea related to physical and biological oceanography. Seabirds at sea observations are undertaken from oceanographic research vessels linked with underway data to investigate oceanographic influences in seabirds' distributions and abundances at sea.
Eric's research efforts and papers are available:
• Research Gate
• Google Scholar
• ORCID record
A couple of Eric's favourite blogs:
CSIRO ECOS
Schmidt Ocean Institute
Moving Oceans - shorebirds
Articles by Eric
The amazing migration
Dr Eric Woehler says he doesn’t need to exaggerate what these tiny migratory bird species can do - “I can simply tell people the bird that sits in the cup of your hand will fly farther than the distance between the earth and the moon over its lifetime."
The great Tasmanian bird count
Bird ecologist Dr Eric Woehler once thought it would take about five years to travel around most of Tasmania’s beaches and survey their inhabitants. 31 years later, he has walked 450 beaches of Tasmania - and, he's still going.
A lifelong love for wildlife
Dr Eric Woehler has been asked a few times where his passion and interest came from. He grew up in Hobart in a caring home, but nature wasn’t something that was a thread in conversations. That inspiration happened at university.
Macquarie Island: a true wildlife hotspot
“Every time, it’s like the first time. You’re just like a kid in the candy store when you see that much wildlife,” says veteran bird ecologist Dr Eric Woehler, of his more than 10 trips to Macquarie Island. Read about his journey.