Namedropper
Bea Vizcarra
The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area recently hired Bea Vizcarra as their new Yuma East Wetlands manager.
Vizcarra continues to maintain her childhood love for nature by making it her passion through her career. She loves sharing her interest and knowledge with the public and has given a variety of workshops, field trips, and talks. Her interest in nature varies along a broad spectrum and this has translated to extensive work experience with bats, birds and reptiles. She received her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a master’s degree in Forestry, both from Northern Arizona University. For her thesis project, she used acoustic and occupancy sampling to determine habitat use of bats along the Lower Colorado River. She conducted this work as an employee of Arizona Game and Fish, and the project was funded by the Lower Colorado River
Multispecies Conservation Program.
After graduation, she was an Environmental Compliance Specialist for Gowan Company in Yuma. She then became coordinator for the Hawaiian Hoary Bat Program at the U.S. Army Garrison Base on Hawaii. There, she established an acoustic research study to better understand the habitat use and seasonal patterns of this insectivorous endangered bat. She has also conducted bat research and surveys in Arizona, California, Nevada, New York, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Sonora. This work has included roost and mine surveys, surveys using various trapping techniques, radio telemetry, exit counts, and acoustic monitoring.
More recently, Vizcarra was a lead planner for the Tonto National Forest where she was responsible for writing the wildlife portion of the revised Tonto management plan. This required a thorough review of issues confronting wildlife on the Tonto, and extensive coordination with federal and state agencies, universities, and private land owners.
Born in San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., immigrated to the U.S. at age 18, she became a U.S. citizen in 2010 and has spent much of her life in the Yuma community.