Karen Sinclair (33154817646)

Karen Sinclair, Fish and Wildlife Biologist
Credit: USFWS
Karen Sinclair, Fish and Wildlife Biologist, Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office, Ventura, Calif.
Who is your Female Conservation Hero or Mentor?
Jane Goodall is my conservation hero because her work demonstrates the importance of determination, patience, detailed observation, and compassion. Despite the barriers restricting women in science and spending months in the field barely obtaining glimpses of wary chimpanzees before they grew to trust her, Jane Goodall’s groundbreaking insights of chimpanzee behavior changed the global perspective on animal intelligence. Today she travels the world; sharing her experiences and knowledge about chimpanzees and the threats they face to inspire her audience to make our shared planet a better place. The stories of Jane Goodall discovering new facts about chimpanzees in the middle of a dense forest and the impact she has made on the world inspired me to become a wildlife biologist.
Where did you go to school and what did you study?
I went to UC-Davis and obtained a B.S. in wildlife, fish, and conservation biology.
What’s your favorite thing about working for the Service?
I love working for the Service because I am constantly learning about diverse topics such as the native plants the Chumash used as medicine to the reasons the light-footed clapper rail is listed as Endangered through the Endangered Species Act.
If you could have one incredible animal adaptation, what would it be?

If I could have one incredible animal adaptation, I would want to have the complex nasal cavities that polar bears use to smell food up to 20 miles away. That way I could smell all of the restaurants within a 20 mile radius and go to the one that smells the best!