The Pacific Seabird Group (PSG) is a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 based ornithological

Ornithology

Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...

 society, focusing on the behavior, ecology, and conservation of seabird

Seabird

Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...

s.

History

It was founded in 1972 as an association of professional seabird researchers and managers. It aims to increase the quality and quantity of seabird research by facilitating information exchange, to assess threats to seabird populations, and to provide government agencies and others with expert advice on managing them.

Organization

The Pacific Seabird Group is governed by an Executive Council, which includes a student representative, and representatives from Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

/Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Washington/Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, Northern California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Southern California/Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

/Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, non-Pacific U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 states, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

/Oceania

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

, and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

/Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

. Membership on the Executive Council is decided by an annual election by the membership. Membership is open to "all persons interested in Pacific seabirds and/or their environment." There are Individual Members, Life Members, Honorary Members, Student Members, Corresponding Members, Sponsored Members, and Family Members. Dues are paid annually.

The PSG is a member of the Ornithological Council

Ornithological Council

The Ornithological Council is an association of ornithological organisations based in the Americas involved in bird study and conservation. It was incorporated in Washington, D.C. in 1992 as a not-for-profit organization...

 and the American Bird Conservancy

American Bird Conservancy

American Bird Conservancy is a non-profit membership organization with the mission of conserving native birds and their habitats throughout the Americas...

.

Publications

Pacific Seabirds is a biannual (spring and fall) publication with news and events of interest to the membership. It continues the Pacific Seabird Group Bulletin.

Since 2000, the PSG has published the open-access, peer-reviewed journal

Scientific journal

In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...

 Marine Ornithology on behalf of a consortium

Scientific journal

In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...

 of seabird groups from across the world. Marine Ornithology is published 2-3 times a year, and is the continuation of the African Seabird Group's journal Cormorant.

Annual Meeting

Since its inception, the PSG has hosted an annual meeting of members. In 2008, the first annual meeting outside North America was held in Hakodate, Japan. Meetings were suspended in 2011 for the 1st World Seabird Conference in September 2010. The 38th annual meeting will take place in February 2012 in Hawaii.

Awards

At each annual meeting, awards are presented for the best student oral and poster presentations. A Lifetime Achievement Award and Special Achievement Award may also be presented.

Year	Meeting Location	Lifetime Achievement Award	Special Achievement Award
2012	Oahu, Hawaii	John Cooper
2010	Long Beach, California Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...	Daniel W. Anderson	Frank Gress
2009	Hakodate, Japan	Haruo Ogi	Yutaka Watanuki
2008	Blaine, Washington Blaine, Washington Blaine is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, United States. The city's northern boundary is the Canadian border. Blaine is the shared home of the Peace Arch international monument...	John Croxall	Lora Leschner, and S. Kim Nelson
2007	Pacific Grove, California Pacific Grove, California Pacific Grove is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, USA, with a population of 15,041 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,522 as of the 2000 census...	Michael P. Harris	Edward F. Melvin
2006	Girdwood, Alaska Girdwood, Alaska Girdwood is an unincorporated year-round ski resort community within the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska. It lies in a valley in the Chugach Mountains near the end of the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet, 36 miles southeast of Anchorage proper.It is surrounded by seven permanent...	G. Vernon Byrd	Mark Rauzon
2005	Portland, Oregon Portland, Oregon Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...	Spencer G. Sealy
2004	La Paz, Mexico
2000	Napa, California Napa, California -History:The name Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern Nappan village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and cougars for many centuries, according to Napa historian Kami Santiago. At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the...
1999	Semiahmoo, Washington
1998	Monterey, California Monterey, California The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
1997	Portland, Oregon Portland, Oregon Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

Advocacy

The PSG often comments on government proposals or legal actions concerning seabird conservation issues. In the past, it has written regarding Marine Protected Areas

Marine Protected Area

Marine Protected Areas, like any protected area, are regions in which human activity has been placed under some restrictions in the interest of conserving the natural environment, it's surrounding waters and the occupant ecosystems, and any cultural or historical resources that may require...

 in the western United States, American White Pelican

American White Pelican

The American White Pelican is a large aquatic bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Central America, in winter....

 management plans, the eradication of introduced mammals

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

 from islands, and decisions on the listing of species in endangered species

Endangered species

An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

legislation.