Join Whooping Crane Outreach Coordinator Stephanie Schmidt to learn about the International Crane Foundation’s whooping crane reintroduction and community building efforts in Wisconsin and beyond. The whooping crane is a charismatic wetland species and a large white bird around 5 feet tall, making it the tallest bird in North America. In the 1940s the population reached an all-time low of around 20 birds, but through federal protections and collaborative efforts, this population is now around 800 individuals in the wild and in captivity. The International Crane Foundation is also working with communities in the Whooping crane’s flyways to create stewardship and guardianship for these incredible birds.
Stephanie Schmidt, International Crane Foundation
Recorded April 15, 2022.
Stephanie Schmidt worked as an intern at the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in 2019, working with their captive flock and raising chicks for reintroduction efforts in Louisiana. Following this work, she moved to Louisiana to work with partners there to release the cohort of chicks she had helped raise at ICF. She then went on to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Illinois, studying marsh birds. She recently returned to work at ICF as their Whooping Crane Outreach Coordinator.
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