Lucien Bouffard
NaturalistDegrees
B.S. Biology and Environmental Studies
A.Sc. Horticulture
About
As a resident of New Haven I am working on a Master’s of Forest Science Degree at Yale University and I am building a business- Holoterra. Holoterra has been operating since 2008 and is becoming established in New Haven after relocation from Houston, Texas. My wife and I moved there for her corporate relocation with the American Red Cross. A highlight of our residence in Texas was the welcoming of evacuees from Louisiana for Hurricanes Rita and Katrina. In Houston, I worked as a professional Naturalist at the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center. While I was working at the premier environmental education organization of the region, I led natural history programs and implemented the Conservation Master Plan. One of my volunteerism activities in Houston included leading the Buffalo Bayou Christmas Bird Count. That National Audubon Society winter bird Count hosted 120 participants. Collectively, the group counted 30,000 individual birds. I became a Texas Master Naturalist through Texas Parks and Wildlife, and a Certified Interpretive Guide by the National Association for Interpretation.
Broadly, my career and current study objectives include becoming adept in my knowledge of plants as individuals and as communities, natural history, ornithology and tropical forest biodiversity. Currently, I am working with the Houston Museum of Natural Science on an endemic species of Peruvian bird called the White-winged Guan. As a group- Yale, the museum, the White-winged Guan Reintroduction Program and I are working to establish vectors for seed dispersal by the White-winged Guan. This group is working to increase the numbers of this species from its current population of less than one thousand. I aim to analyze the problems associated with diet and habitat, and then I will present the results to governing bodies and management teams. In detail, I am working to understand the interaction of the environment and wildlife. After I have completed this degree program I see myself as conservation oriented non-profit executive director or continuing with my aspirations of furthering Holoterra. The focus of that entrepreneurial effort will contribute to habitat improvement plans and support local economies through ecotourism.
