Matt Reiter

Research Director

As a Research Director in the Pacific Coast and Central Valley Group at Point Blue, much of my work is focused on the ecology and conservation of waterbirds and their habitat, and particularly seeking innovative approaches to understanding the impacts of threats such as habitat loss and climate change.  I work on a diverse set of projects from  studying beneficial agriculture practices for birds and finding optimal management solutions,  to using satelitte’s to track the distribution and abundance of water in the Central Valley, to developing and implementing a coordinated research and monitoring program for non-breeding shorebirds from Canada to Peru to identify conservation priorities for these populations both now and in the future.

I grew up in Massachusetts and always loved the outdoors. I received a B.A. from Boston College in 1998 and an M.S. (2006) and Ph.D. (2009) from the University of Minnesota. I worked for the U.S. Geological Survey in Hawaii from 1998 – 2003 studying the impacts of avian malaria on Hawaii’s native birds and developing disease management strategies for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. As part of my graduate degree work, I spent  summers studying the nesting ecology of tundra nesting Canada geese  in northern Manitoba, Canada.  Particularly, I evaluated the impacts of increasing numbers of nesting lesser snow geese, fluctuations in arctic fox abundance, and cycles of lemming populations on Canada goose nest survival and spatial distribution.

I have a diverse publication record with peer-reviewed scientific publications on mosquitoes, tundra-dwelling frogs, lemmings, arctic foxes and birds. I am facinated by all ecological systems and enjoy digging into different kinds of data.

When not traveling throughout the Pacific Coast of the Americas, I am based in Truckee, California.