Megan Owen

Conservation Program Specialist

Megan Owen is a conservation program specialist in the Giant Panda Conservation Unit of the Applied Animal Ecology Division of CRES. She has been with CRES since 1997 and has primarily focused on the behavioral ecology of giant pandas and other bear species. In recent years, polar bears have become a major focus of her research. The ultimate goal of much of her research has been to address questions relevant to the conservation and basic biology of bears in the wild, with the bears at the San Diego Zoo or other zoos.

Areas of research in bears have included sensory ecology, stress monitoring, mother-infant relationships, and identifying estrus and ovulation through behavioral parameters. Ms. Owen is very interested in how human activities and climate change impact bears differently at various stages of the life cycle. Before coming to CRES, the bulk of Ms. Owen’s graduate work and research took place in the Arctic and focused on various bird species, especially endangered waterfowl.

Ms. Owen received her master's in biology (ecology, evolution, and behavior) from the City University of New York (CUNY) in 1994. She received her bachelor of science in biology from CUNY in 1992.

More

• Read blogs about polar bears....
• Read blogs about giant pandas...
• Mother-infant Relationships in Bear Species...
• Conservation of the Giant Panda: Applications of Research in Communication, Reproduction, and Welfare
• Hearing Sensitivity of the Polar Bear with Implications for Environmental Disturbance in the Wild
• Conservation Ecology and Behavior of Wild Giant Panda Populations
• View the San Diego Zoo's giant pandas on Panda Cam...
• View the San Diego Zoo's polar bears on Polar Cam...