The Condor’s Shadow: A Virtual Film Screening and Discussion
About Jeff McLoughlin:
Filmmaker Jeff McLoughlin produces documentary films that explore the efforts and passion of exceptional individuals working to preserve the natural world. His films reveal the varied ways that scientists, naturalists, field biologists, and artists bring their talents to bear on environmental dilemmas. Broadcast internationally and through American Public Television, his films have screened to Audubon chapters, museums, and film festivals nationwide. Jeff’s credits include the award-winning film The Condor’s Shadow, which has enjoyed use in the curriculum of wildlife and environmental studies programs at colleges and universities around the nation. Other recent work include shorts on California’s last remaining remnant native grassland, Carrizo Plain – A Sense of Place, on California’s endangered Valley Oak and on artist Patti Jacquemain in The Artist and the Great Bear. Additional information on Jeff’s films can be found on his website GoodEyeFilms.com
About Estelle Sandhaus:
Estelle’s interest in the role of animal behavior in conservation led her to graduate work at Georgia Tech’s Center for Conservation and Behavior, where she initially focused on giant panda behavior at the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding. During her studies, Estelle joined the Santa Barbara Zoo, whose conservation programs support threatened and endangered species across California’s biodiverse central coast, from monarch butterflies to southern sea otters.
She was soon drawn to the challenges facing reintroduced California condors in southern California, where nest success was extremely low, in large part because chicks were ingesting microtrash from the landscape. In partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other Recovery Program Partners, she helped develop the California Condor Nest Guarding Program, combining field observations, targeted interventions, and outreach in communities that share the condor’s habitat. The program has contributed to a dramatic increase in nest success, and today more than one quarter of the southern California condor flock is wild-fledged.
Her team’s work has been published in books and scientific journals, presented internationally, and featured in popular media. Estelle is also committed to conserving vultures globally and serves as Program Leader for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums African Vulture SAFE Program, which supports field partners in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa.
About Jennifer L. Anderson:
Jennifer L. Anderson is a painter and printmaker working in many disciplines. Her iconic and evocative imagery are informed by her experiences as a woman and a mother, as well as her love of the natural world. Anderson was born in Ware, Massachusetts, and raised on a farm in North Brookfield. After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Connecticut in 1989, she pursued graduate studies, exhibited throughout New England, and raised three children. Monterey, California, has been Anderson’s home for the past 15 years. She is fortunate to be able to split her time between Monterey and her family home in Vermont, both places offering her a connection to the flora and fauna of the natural world. Anderson’s works are held in public and private collections internationally.