Heather Wilson

Heather Wilson, Ph.D., is a wildlife biologist/airplane pilot for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Migratory Bird Management (MBM), in Anchorage, Alaska.  She holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks; where her doctoral research focused on the population ecology of Pacific common eiders on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska.  After several years of working as a field biologist in North, Central, and South America (focused on neo-tropical migratory birds and bats), Heather moved to Alaska in 2001. The next year, she became a private airplane pilot, adding commercial, instrument, and float ratings in 2008. As the only biologist-pilot for Migratory Bird Management in Alaska, Heather flies surveys throughout the state; from the Alaska Peninsula, to the Yukon Delta, to the North Slope. She is currently the project lead/pilot-observer on the Alaska Winter and Fall Brant Surveys (Cold Bay), Copper River Delta Dusky Canada Goose Breeding Pair Survey (Cordova), Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Breeding Pair Survey (Bethel), YKD Brant Colony Photo Survey (Bethel), the Arctic Coastal Plain Breeding Pair Survey (Prudhoe Bay, Barrow, Atqasuk), and assists with the North American Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey, Teshekpuk Lake Molting Goose Survey, and Greater White-fronted Goose banding. Most of the surveys she flies serve as the primary population indices for Pacific Flyway and Alaska Migratory Bird Co-Management Council, as well as Threatened and Endangered Species management plans. 

Heather and her unique biologist-pilot skillset has made her the subject of popular articles and media outlets, including articles in the online magazines of Vogue, Outside, Smithsonian, and Smithsonian Air & Space. She has also been featured in film, TV, and podcasts, including the short film Chasing Birds in Beringia by Stephani Gordon, the Mission Unstoppable TV show - How Biologists Count Birds, the educational video "Winter Survey and Increasing Population of Black Brant", and the Wander Women Podcast. When not working or the subject of media frenzy, Heather is busy compiling data, writing reports, and preparing for more surveys!  She likes to spend her off-time hiking, hunting, fishing, flying, and playing music with her family.

For more information about becoming a pilot/biologist and the Alaska USFWS Aviation Program, visit:

• https://www.fws.gov/story/alaska-conservation-careers-pilots 
• https://www.fws.gov/story/becoming-pilot-biologist-us-fish-and-wildlife-service 

Selected Publications

Hollmen. T. E., P. L. Flint, S. E.G. Ulman, H. M. Wilson, C. L. Amundson, and E. E. Osnas. 2023. Climate change and coastal wetland salinization: physiological and ecological consequences for Arctic waterfowl. Functional Ecology. 37: 1884–1896. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14363

Weiser, E. L., P. L. Flint, D. K. Marks, B. Shults, H. M. Wilson, S. Thompson, J. B. Fischer. 2022. Optimizing surveys of fall-staging geese using aerial imagery and automated counting. Wildlife Society Bulletin; e1407. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1407

Ruthrauff, D. R., Z. Pohlen, H. M. Wilson, and J. A. Johnson. 2021. Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica in Alaska: revisiting population estimates from the staging grounds. Wader Study 128(3): 255-264. https://doi.org/10.18194/ws.00251

Stillman, R. A., E. M. Rivers, W. Gilkerson, K. A. Wood, B. A. Nolet, P. Clausen, H. M. Wilson, and D. H. Ward.2021. Predicting impacts of food competition, climate, and disturbance on a long-distance migratory herbivore. Ecosphere 12(3):e03405. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3405.

Uher-Koch, B. D., R. M. Buchheit, C. R. Eldermire, H. M. Wilson, N. A. Rojek, and J. A. Schmutz. 2020. Shifts in wintering distribution and abundance of emperor geese in Alaska. Global Ecology and Conservation 25 (2021) e01397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01397.

Uher-Koch, B. D., J. A. Schmutz, H. M. Wilson, R. Michael Anthony, T. L. Day, T. F. Fondell, B. T. Person, and J. S. Sedinger. 2019. Ecosystem scale loss of grazing habitat impacted by abundance of dominant herbivores. Ecosphere 10: 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2767.

Amundson, C. L., P. L. Flint, R. A. Stehn, R. M. Platte, H. M. Wilson, W. W. Larned and J. B. Fischer. 2019. Spatio-temporal population change of Arctic-breeding waterbirds on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska. Avian Conservation and Ecology 14 (1):18. https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01383-140118.

Sedinger, J. S., C. A. Nicolai, A. W. VanDellen, A. G. Leach, H. M. Wilson, and R. Michael Anthony. 2016. Predation and reduced grazing interact to reduce recruitment and population growth in Black Brant. Condor 118: 433-444. https://doi.org/10.1650/CONDOR-15-109.1.

Ely, C. R., W. J. L. Sladen, H. M. Wilson, S. E. Savage, K. M. Sowl, B. Henry, M. Schwitters, and J. Snowden. 2014. Delineation of Tundra Swan Cygnus c. columbianus populations in North America: geographic boundaries and interchange. Wildfowl 2014: 132-147. pdf.

Wilson H. M., J. S. Hall, P. L. Flint, J. C. Franson, C. R. Ely, J. A. Schmutz, M. D. Samuel. 2013. High seroprevalence of antibodies to avian influenza viruses among wild waterfowl in Alaska: Implications for surveillance. PLoS ONE 8(3): e58308. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058308.

Wilson, H. M., P. L. Flint, A. N. Powell, J. B. Grand, and T. L. Moran. 2012.Population ecology of Pacific common eiders on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Wildlife Monographs 182:1-28. https://doi.org/10.1002/wmon.8.

Petersen, M. R., D. C. Douglas, H. M. Wilson, and S. McCloskey. 2012. Effects of sea ice on winter site fidelity evident among Pacific common eiders. The Auk 129(3):399-408.https://www.jstor.org/stable/26607729.

Milani, J. F., H. M. Wilson, M. H. Ziccardi, R. B. LeFebvre, and C. A. Scott. 2012. Hematology, plasma chemistry, and bacteriology of wild tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus) in Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 48:212-215.https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-48.1.212.

Schamber, J. L., P. L. Flint., J. B. Grand, H. M. Wilson, and J. A. Morse. 2009. Population dynamics of Long-tailed Ducks breeding on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Arctic 62 (2): 190-200. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40513287.

Wilson, H. M. 2007. Population ecology of Pacific common eiders on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Dissertation, University of Alaska, Fairbanks: 204 pp. http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7005.

Wilson, H. M., P. L. Flint, and A. N. Powell. 2007.Coupling contaminants with demography: Effects of lead and selenium in Pacific common eiders. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 26(7):1410-1417. https://doi.org/10.1897/06-537R.1.

Wilson, H. M., P. L. Flint, T. L. Moran, and A. N. Powell. 2007.Survival of breeding Pacific common eiders on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management 71(2):403-410. https://doi.org/10.2193/2005-776.

Wilson, H. M., J. L. Oyen, and L. Sileo. 2004. Lead shot poisoning of a Pacific loon in Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Diseases 40:600-602.https://doi/org/10.7589/0090-3558-40.3.600.

Hollmen, T. E., J. C. Franson, P. L. Flint., J. B. Grand, R. B. Lanctot, D. C. Docherty, and H. M. Wilson. 2004. An adenovirus linked to mortality and disease in Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis) in Alaska.  Avian Diseases 47(4):1434-1440.https://doi.org/10.1637/7029.

Wilson, H. M., Petersen, M. R., and D. Troy. 2004. Concentrations of heavy metals and trace elements in king and spectacled eiders in northern Alaska.  Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 23(2):408–414. https://doi.org/10.1897/03-21.