Dave Roseneau

David Gale Roseneau was born on July 28, 1943 in Kalispell, Montana and died on November 30, 2020 in Homer, Alaska. He spent most of his life in Alaska, coming at an early age with his mother and uncle, Adolf Roseneau, after his father died. Adolf worked for the agency that is now the Federal Aviation Administration, and they lived in Unalakleet and later in Anchorage, where Dave graduated from high school. He attended college at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, earning a B.S. degree in wildlife management in 1967 and an M.S. degree in Biology in 1972. His thesis research was on the numbers, distribution, and diets of gyrfalcons on the Seward Peninsula. His passion for raptors led him to float hundreds of miles of rivers both in Alaska and Canada to document peregrine falcons, gyrfalcons, and other raptors, and he traveled extensively in South America doing surveys of wintering peregrine populations. He was a falconer for many years, and his last bird was a beautiful white gyrfalcon. Dave worked as a consulting biologist for over 20 years. Besides his work with raptors, he conducted and managed marine bird and large mammal projects in Alaska and Canada for government agencies and private-sector clients. He participated in the largest marine science project ever conducted in Alaska up to that time, the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program. During his studies at seabird breeding colonies in the Chukchi and northern Bering seas, he helped generate some of the earliest baseline data, and he helped develop survey techniques that are still contributing to the current methods used to survey for cliff nesting seabirds. He spent several years surveying the Porcupine caribou herd in northwest Alaska and Canada, and produced a monograph on expansive fences that were used for centuries by Gwich’in  to capture migrating caribou. In 1993, Dave joined the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge to help evaluate impacts on seabirds following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He worked initially in the Barren Islands on murres and kittiwakes and was Principal Investigator on several projects assessing impacts of the oil spill on marine food webs. He eventually became the lead Refuge biologist for the Chukchi Sea Unit, where he helped establish long term monitoring of seabird populations related to changes in the marine ecosystem. After a long and distinguished career, Dave “retired” in 2011. Yet, until his health failed, he continued with the Refuge as a volunteer overseeing a project related to evaluating contaminant levels in murre eggs, an important contribution to monitoring the burden of synthetic chemicals in, and the health of, Alaska’s seas. During his career, Dave authored and co-authored more than 100 reports and publications, and he also made over 30 public presentations on seabirds, raptors, and caribou at scientific conferences and meetings. Dave was known for common sense, innovative and practical approaches to problem solving, hard work, and dedication to his profession, which for him was a way of life. He was a private pilot and an expert boat operator, both skills which he used to get to remote areas for his work. He had a keen memory for details and his varied experiences from a lifetime of adventures were recounted in the manner of a fine storyteller. His good humor and ready laughter made him delightful to be around. He is greatly missed.