Ph.D., Research Scientist, Mountain Streams and Saline Lakes
Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory, Mammoth Lakes, California
Bio:
Dave Herbst is a native of northern California, living now in the old gold mining town of Nevada City on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The summer after graduating from UC Davis studying zoology, he set out with a group of students to study Mono Lake and so became obsessed with salt lakes. He went on to earn a Ph.D. at Oregon State University and then parlayed that into becoming a research scientist with the University of California Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory (Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz). Along with salt lakes from across the Great Basin Desert to the Bolivian altiplano, he has also studied mountain streams and their aquatic invertebrate life up and down the Sierra Nevada and the central coast of California. Foremost among his labors though has been raising baby fly maggots to become buzzing adults, spending long months toiling in obscurity to become the Lord of the Flies.
Panel Discussion: On the Fly: The Unsung Insects Feeding Great Salt Lake Birds
Abstract: Brine flies may be the most important insect on the saline lakes corridor in the Western US, but they have flown under the radar, so to speak, and have not been a primary focus in most salt lake research. This panel will speak to the significance of the Ephydra species and their friends in the Great Salt Lake food chains. Brine flies have been under stress as salinity climbs in shrinking lakes, and the birds that eat them could also find themselves in peril. The panelists will broaden our view of the diversity of flies and their unique physiology. Also, how should we be monitoring them and how does this report on the health of the ecosystem? Join us as we investigate what we can do to protect brine flies and the birds they feed.