Environmental science Ph.D. student

receives grant to study Galapagos hawks

Ken Levenstein, an environmental science Ph.D. student at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, has received a grant to assist in funding his research of the Galapagos hawk.

The Galapagos hawk, a unique and vulnerable species, is listed on the “Vulnerable to Extinction” Red List of Threatened Animals. The Galapagos hawk is native to the Galapagos Islands, located some 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. They are very much like the red tail hawks native to northeastern Arkansas.

Levenstein was awarded a grant from the program Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research, which provides funding to undergraduate and graduate students in the disciplines of science and engineering (including the social sciences). Sigma Xi is an internationally known scientific research society.

“I grew up in New York City (in Manhattan) and lived there until I was 12. I don’t really know why, but I was just always fascinated by nature. Birds were more accessible to me, because I lived close to Central Park.”

“I was walking around with a field guide to birds and a pair of binoculars at the age of six. I also read every book about nature that I could get my hands on,” Levenstein said.

Levenstein received a bachelor’s degree from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and his master’s degree in environmental biology from Antioch University in Keene, N.H. He began his Ph.D. teaching assistantship in environmental science at ASU three years ago under the direction of his adviser, Dr. Jim Bednarz, professor of wildlife ecology.

“For my master’s, I did a study of bird communities in Belize, Central America. After my master’s, I worked on a number of avian research projects throughout the country. These projects included several threatened or endangered species and work in the mountains of New England, the Grand Canyon, the desert southwest (particularly along the lower Colorado River), the Channel Islands off California, lowland hardwood forests of southern Indiana, and the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington.

“I came to ASU because it is from here that Dr. Jim Bednarz has been studying the Galapagos hawk. And in 2001, he was searching for a doctoral student to continue his research. By studying the Galapagos hawk, I am seeking to gain insight into questions that have fascinated scientists for a number of years,” he said.

For the last three years, Levenstein has traveled each summer to the Galapagos Islands to study the native hawk. Camping in a tent for three months on the totally uninhabited island, he studies the breeding pattern of the Galapagos hawk and the effects on their life expectancy. He is assisted with his research by Ecuadorian college students from the area.

The Sigma Xi grant will assist in providing funding to continue his research of the Galapagos hawk.

 The campsite where Levenstein conducts his research is located only two miles from where Charles Darwin spent his time developing the theory of evolution. The Charles Darwin Research Station is in close proximity.

#  #  #