Backcountry Ranger Station

We attended a lecture from David Benitez at Hawaii Volcano National Park. David specializes in invasive species management. He is from South America and got his masters in plant biology. Beginning his career with the National Parks Service as a contractor. We learned that species can be eradicated by the introduction of other species. We also learned how important it is to not introduce new species. It is of interest to protect species from going extinct. A big part of David’s job is making sure that species don’t become extinct. There are ways that species can become extinct that are out of our control such as climate change, hurricanes, and tsunamis. Davids talk was also about the issues and challenges he deals with including Getting funding.