Katie Quint
Research Director
Wildlife Biologist & Golden Eagle Specialist
WRI Advocacy Team Lead
WRI Education Committee Member
Katie has been part of WRI's raptor research team since 2011. She currently operates as the Research Director managing WRI's long-term Eagle Tracking Program and leads WRI's Golden Eagle aerial and ground survey work in Southern California. Her eagle and raptor experience includes occupancy and productivity surveys, migration and point counts, nest monitoring at construction sites, and monitoring via remote camera traps. Her nest monitoring and occupancy survey experience includes Burrowing Owls, a California Species of Special Concern. Ms. Quint has been conducting ground observations for WRI’s Golden Eagle and Raptor Migration Project based out of WRI's Montana "yurt" headquarters on the Continental Divide and assisted in WRI's trapping and banding efforts. Katie has logged over 400 hours of Golden Eagle experience, which fuels her passion for wildlife advocacy and eduction. Katie currently leads WRI's Advocacy Team, having learned from the mentorship of great advocates on WRi's Board of Directors including the late, greats Dave Bittner and the lovely Carol Angus. Katie’s experiences have also involved animal husbandry and training of over 60 species of large captive ungulates, small mammals, reptiles, and birds at both accredited and non-profit private zoos in Hawaii and North Carolina. She began committing herself to volunteer efforts for various animal shelters and zoos since 2007 where she specialized in designing and presenting educational programs on animal conservation, ecology and disease prevention in addition to providing animal care. She is a member of WRI’s Education Committee providing great contributions for WRI's annual Hawk Watch program as an organizer and presenter. Katie received her B.S. in Zoology with a minor in Psychology from North Carolina State University in 2010 and loves living among the flora and fauna of San Diego County.
Dave Bittner
In memorium: December 30, 1944- January 9, 2020
CO-Founder & Director
Board Member since 1993
Dave had been a Wildlife Biologist since 1977. His legacy accomplishment is founding Wildlife Research Institute (WRI) as a non-profit in 1993 with his wife, Leigh. Dave continually studied the Golden Eagle Population in San Diego County since 1988 for which WRI has comparative data from the 1890’s, making this Program the longest study of Golden Eagles in North America. He had extensive experience monitoring hawks, eagles and owls in the San Diego MSCP under State NCCP grants. SEMPRA Energy also supported WRI's raptor research in San Diego County. Cooperating with California State Parks, Dave headed an annual Golden Eagle and Prairie Falcon population study throughout the Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Dave directed WRI's Golden Eagle Tracking Study since its inception and applied tracking equipment such as BBL leg bands, patagial tags, and satellite transmitters on over 400 Golden Eagles in Southern California, Nevada, and Montana. Dave has also conducted Golden Eagle population surveys on two of Ted Turner’s New Mexico ranches totaling approximately one million acres. Dave’s avocation was photography-- all of his many hours in the field have professional photographs that accompanied all of his research and professional presentations. His past experience included working for US Fish and Wildlife Service, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Ohio Dept of Natural Resources, and teaching at three different Universities. Dave received a B.S. in Zoology and Wildlife Management from The Ohio State University (1968) and conducting graduate studies in Avian Reproduction and Natural Resources (1975-1977) also at The Ohio State University.