Mark Tobin Records --

Mark Tobin was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He received a BS in Zoology from the University of California, Berkley in 1973, and MS (1979) and Ph.D. (1983) in wildlife ecology from the University of California at Davis.

Mark began his career with the Research Center while working as a postdoc at its Dixon, CA, Field Station from 1983-1985, where he worked on bird damage management in vineyards. After that, Mark conducted research on vole damage to orchards at another postdoc position (1985-1988) with Cornell University. In 1988, he became the Field Station Leader for the Center’s Hilo, HI, Field Station, where he worked on developing methods for rodent control in sugarcane and macadamia orchards. During the 1990s, he became involved with International Programs, a collaborative effort between the Research Center and USAID (US Agency for International Development) to develop methods to reduce crop damage caused by wildlife in developing countries. He worked on rodent control issues in the Philippines, Singapore, and Bangladesh in 1992. Mark also conducted research in New Zealand and Australia in 1994. From 1995-1996 he worked with the brown treesnake project in Guam. In 1996, Mark left Hawaii and became the Field Station Leader at the Center’s Starkville, MS, Field Station. There he led research on developing methods to reduce bird depredations on aquaculture farms.

Mark’s role with the NWRC transitioned from research to administration when he moved to NWRC headquarters in Fort Collins, CO, in 1999. He served as Program Manager for the Bird Research Unit until 2008, when he became the NWRC Assistant Director. Mark retired from the NWRC in December 2016, after more than 30 years of working at the Center in many different positions of increasing responsibility.