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José Ramírez-Garofalo

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José R. Ramírez-Garofalo
4th President of Protectors of Pine Oak Woods
Incumbent
Assumed office
April 1, 2024
Vice PresidentJack Bolembach
Preceded byClifford Hagen
Personal details
Born
José Raphael Ramírez-Garofalo IV

(1996-03-17) March 17, 1996 (age 28)
Staten Island, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic (since 2023)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (before 2023)
Relatives
Alma mater
ProfessionOrnithologist, ecologist, non-profit executive
Website
Official website Published works
Scientific career
FieldsEcology, conservation biology, natural history, ornithology, zoonotic disease
Institutions
Doctoral advisorJulie L. Lockwood
Other academic advisors

José R. Ramírez-Garofalo (born March 17, 1996) is an American ecologist, ornithologist, and naturalist known for his work on avian ecology, conservation biology, and the impact of environmental change on urban bird populations. His research focuses on the occurrence of species outside of their typical geographic range, the spread of zoonotic pathogens, and the interactions of species within urban ecosystems. He is a noted expert on the natural history of the Greater New York Area, and has published widely on the changing composition of the ecological communities of the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States since the turn of the 20th century.

In December 2023, Ramírez-Garofalo was elected to serve as the fourth president of Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, a non-profit organization focused on preserving natural areas in New York City.[1]

Early life and education

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José Ramírez-Garofalo was born on March 17, 1996, in Staten Island, New York to Kathy Garofalo, a United States National Park Service Ranger and former wildland firefighter, and Jose Ramirez-Torres a Puerto Rican United States Army veteran of the Vietnam War, retired United States National Park Service Ranger, and former wildland firefighter. He grew up on the North Shore of Staten Island and attended Tottenville High School on the Island's South Shore.[2] His paternal grandfather José Ramirez-Pantoja was a United States Army veteran of World War II[3] and member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. He is a cousin of New Progressive Party politician and Mayor of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico María Vega Pagán.

From 2014 to 2021, Ramírez-Garofalo attended the City University of New York where he was an undergraduate student of mathematician and philosopher Joel David Hamkins and the ecologist Richard Veit. Upon completing his undergraduate work in Mathematics, he conducted graduate work in biology under the direction of Veit and macroecologist Lisa Manne, receiving his Master of Science degree in early-2021. Since September 2021 he has been a doctoral student of renowned ecologist Julie Lockwood at Rutgers University.[4]


Research and career

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With a wide network of colleagues, Ramírez-Garofalo has conducted research with a regional and a global-focus, with publications ranging from the spread of southern ticks into the northeastern United States and changes in the migratory patterns of geese. Since the mid-2010s, he has been part of a team of ecologists that are conducting long-term ecological research at New York City's Freshkills Park.[5] In 2023, he served as a technical contributor on the Fifth U.S. National Climate Assessment.[6]

Ramírez-Garofalo is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission, where he is part of the Heron Specialist Group.[7] Between 2022–2023, he served as the non-Pacific states representative to the Pacific Seabird Group's Executive Council.[8] Since 2020 he has served on the Student Affairs Committee of the American Ornithological Society.[9]

Ramírez-Garofalo working as a biologist for the United States National Park Service at Gateway National Recreation Area in Queens, New York

Ramírez-Garofalo has worked as a biologist for several organizations and institutions including the United States National Park Service, and NYC Bird Alliance (formerly New York City Audubon Society).[10] He is an adjunct professor at the City University of New York. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for the peer-review journal Urban Naturalist,[11] the journal of biodiversity data Check List,[12] and as a Publication Editor for the journal of ornithological record North American Birds.[13]

During his time with the National Park Service, he and his colleagues documented Kemp's ridley sea turtle nesting on the Rockaway Peninsula, in Queens, New York, the most northern latitude sea turtles have been recorded nesting.[14]

Ramírez-Garofalo has communicated with the media on a variety of topics within ecology, including the recovery of Bald Eagles,[15] the unappreciated importance of vagrancy in birds[16][17] and issues related to the spread of invasive species.[18][19] He has called for caution in the media's portrayal of public "squishing" campaigns for invasive species, where the public is urged to kill some invasive species on-sight, citing the similarity between lichens and the egg masses of the spotted lanternfly, which could lead to further destruction of the native biota.[20] Following heavy coverage of the invasion of the joro spider in the eastern United States, he wrote "the truth is that millions of them are not floating in the skies of New York City or Boston and dropping in like paratroopers."[21]

Ramírez-Garofalo has advocated for the preservation of land in New York City, and has commented on the importance of keeping environmental mitigation within the communities that are being affected by proposed projects, such as in comments made to the New York City Department of City Planning on a planned wind turbine assembly facility in Staten Island, NY. [22]

Published works

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Books

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Curley, S. R., Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R., & Field, C. E. (2022). The Birds of Freshkills Park. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and Freshkills Park Alliance. ISBN: 9798218042691

Book reviews

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  • Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R. (2023). Vagrancy in Birds. Ornithology, 140, ukac057.

Selected articles

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  • Curley, S. R., Ramírez‐Garofalo, J. R., & Allen, M. C. (2024). Southern breeding populations drive declining migration distances in Arctic and subarctic geese. Ecography, e07081.
  • Davis, A., & Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R. (2024). American Flamingos in the United States before and after Hurricane Idalia. North American Birds 75(1), 4-17.
  • Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R. (2023). Attempted predation of a Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) by a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus). The Kingbird, 73(3), 190-191.
  • Gelernter, R., Gustafson, M., Johnson, Z. E., & Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R. (2023). First U.S. record of Bat Falcon. North American Birds 73(2), 4-7.
  • Curley, S. R., Manne, L. L., Ramírez‐Garofalo, J. R., & Veit, R. R. (2022). Evaluating compositional changes in the avian communities of eastern North America using temperature and precipitation indices. Journal of Biogeography, 49(4), 739–752.
  • Curley, S. R., Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R., Winston, T., Feller, M., Perron-Feller, B., Chi, D., Carter, J., & Partridge, D. (2022). First nesting record of Great Blue Heron in densely urbanized New York County, NY. The Kingbird, 72(4), 331-332.
  • Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R., Curley, S. R., Field, C. E., Hart, C. E., & Thangamani, S. (2022). Established populations of Rickettsia parkeri-infected Amblyomma maculatum ticks in New York City, New York, USA. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, 22(3), 184–187.
  • Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R., Curley, S. R., & Field, C. E. (2021). Breeding by Sedge Wrens at an urban reclaimed landfill in New York. Urban Naturalist, 46, 1–10.
  • Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R., Solberg, S., McGrath, E., Dann, K., & Filippini, D. (2021). Colonization of the Rockaway Peninsula, Long Island by Bank Swallows (Riparia riparia). The Kingbird.
  • Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R., Curley, S. R., Ciancimino, A. V., Matarazzo, R. V., Johnson, E. W., & Veit, R. R. (2020). The Re-establishment of Pileated Woodpeckers in New York City Following Nearly Two Centuries of Extirpation. Northeastern Naturalist, 27(4), 803–816.
  • Ramirez-Garofalo, J. R. (2020). Occurrence and implications of staging Black Scoters Melanitta americana in a heavily trafficked urban estuary. Marine Ornithology, 48, 27–32
  • Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R., & Garofalo, K. (2019). Unprecedented numbers of Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) on the Lower New York Bay. The Kingbird, 69, 124-126.
  • Ramírez-Garofalo, J. R. (2019). A Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) in New York City during a region-wide influx. The Kingbird, 69, 22-26.
  • Veit, R. R., Ramirez-Garofalo, J. R., Ciancimino, A., Wollney, S., & Grant, I. (2018). Little Egret at Goethal's Bridge Pond, Staten Island, New York. The Kingbird, 68, 11-14.

References

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  1. ^ benanti@siadvance.com, Carol Ann Benanti | (2024-04-16). "After 12 years of community service, Protectors of Pine Oak Woods president passes the gavel". silive. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  2. ^ jvitale@siadvance.com, Joe Vitale | (2014-06-25). "Tottenville High School graduates 924". silive. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  3. ^ "JOSE R RAMIREZ-PANTOJA's Memorial". www.vlm.cem.va.gov. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  4. ^ "People". Lockwood Lab. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  5. ^ Bliss, Laura (September 21, 2017). "The Remarkable Patience of the Staten Island Bat Watchers".
  6. ^ Carter, Shawn L.; McElwee, Pamela D.; Hyde, Kimberly J. W.; West, Jordan M.; Akamani, Kofi; Babson, Amanda L.; Bowser, Gillian; Bradford, John B.; Costanza, Jennifer K. (2023-11-14). Ecosystems, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity (Report). U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC.
  7. ^ "IUCN SSC Heron Specialist Group | IUCN". iucn.org. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  8. ^ Pacific Seabird Group (February 21, 2022). "Minutes of the Pacific Seabird Group Executive Council Annual Meeting" (PDF).
  9. ^ "Committees - American Ornithological Society (AOS)". American Ornithological Society. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  10. ^ Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. "Tracking Movements of Migratory Shorebirds in the US Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf Region" (PDF).
  11. ^ "Urban Naturalist Board of Editors". www.eaglehill.us. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  12. ^ authors. "Check List". Check List. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  13. ^ Association, American Birding. "North American Birds". American Birding Association. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  14. ^ United States National Park Service (October 1, 2018). "Rarest Sea Turtle Nests on Queens Beach".
  15. ^ Worrell, Georgia (September 23, 2023). "Bald Eagle population soars in the 'most unlikely place' — NYC".
  16. ^ Renault, Marion (April 7, 2022). "These Birds Aren't Lost. They're Adapting".
  17. ^ Barbuti, Angela (2024-06-01). "Exclusive | First-ever American flamingo to visit New York spotted in East Hampton pond". Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  18. ^ Fadulu, Lola (June 6, 2024). "Eight Legs and the Size of a Hand: All About the Joro Spider".
  19. ^ "What are Joro spiders and should you be scared of them?". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  20. ^ ABarron@siadvance.com, Ann Marie Barron | (2023-11-05). "Spotted lanternflies are now laying eggs on Staten Island: Here's what you need to do before they hatch". silive. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  21. ^ Ramírez-Garofalo, José (2024-06-15). "Spiders, Sensationalism, and Species on the Move". A New Yorker's Field Guide to the Environment. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  22. ^ "APPENDIX I: WRITTEN COMMENTS ON THE DEIS". NYC Planning, Zoning Application Portal.
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See also

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