Oiled Wildlife Care Network

10/30/2025

Practice makes prepared when it comes to oiled wildlife response! Today, OWCN director Dr. Victoria Hall participated in a spill response industry drill led by Phillips 66, serving as Deputy Wildlife Branch Director alongside CDFW-OSPR’s Greg McGowan as Wildlife Branch Director. CDFW-OSPR’s Dr. Laird Henkel also joined in an observer role.

These joint exercises ensure that when real spills happen, our teams are ready to work seamlessly with our partners to protect and save wildlife across California’s coast and inland waterways.

10/29/2025

We are seeking an experienced and collaborative leader to join our team in a brand new role: Associate Director of Network Management.

This role oversees engagement and coordination across our 40+ Member Organizations statewide, ensuring California remains ready to respond when wildlife are impacted by oil spills. Apply by November 5, 2025!

Full job description + application:

The Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center (WHC), a program of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and its One Health Institute (OHI), is currently recruiting for an Associate Director of Network Management to help lead the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) and its readiness, research and respon...

10/24/2025

We’re hiring! The Oiled Wildlife Care Network is seeking an Associate Director of Operations, a leadership position that combines wildlife health expertise with emergency response coordination. This role oversees day-to-day readiness, responder training, and field operations for one of the most advanced wildlife response networks in the world.

If you're experienced in wildlife health and incident command/emergency response, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply now: owcn.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/now-hiring-associate-director-operations

Deadline: November 5, 2025 at 11:59PM Pacific Time

The Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, a program of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and its One Health Institute, is currently recruiting for an Associate Director of Operations to help lead the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) and its readiness, research and response activities for oi...

10/20/2025

NEW BLOG POST: When it comes to capturing birds safely and efficiently, sometimes the best tools aren’t the most high-tech...but they are the most adaptable. In our latest blog post, OWCN Operations Specialist JJ Cruz introduces readers to snare mats, a creative and effective method for safely capturing certain bird species when other techniques fall short.

Read the full post on the OWCN blog to learn how and why this tool works.

What Are Snare Mats?A snare mat — also known as a noose mat — is a flat panel (often a patch of hardware cloth) fitted with small nylon or monofilament loops. Making these traps usually takes 4 to 8 hours to make sure that they are sticking up correctly. When a bird steps onto the mat, one of th...

10/17/2025

We’re wrapping up by spotlighting one of our own—Danene Birtell, a Registered Veterinary Technician and key member of the OWCN Management Team!

Danene has responded to more than 25 oiled wildlife incidents and has played a leading role in spill response exercises, trainings, and planning efforts across the U.S. and beyond. Her experience and dedication help keep our Network ready to respond whenever wildlife needs us.

10/16/2025

Our spotlight continues with Kelly Beffa, a Registered Veterinary Technician and Wildlife Center Manager with OWCN Member Organization International Bird Rescue.

Kelly has completed our Basic Responder Training, 24-hour HAZWOPER, and Oiled Wildlife Specialist training in Field Stabilization. She is so experienced that she even helps teach the Cleaning & Conditioning portion of our Oiled Wildlife Specialist training. For oil spill responses, Kelly has time and time again stepped up to the challenge, offering her skills and sharp instincts to save animals. Her commitment to learning and sharing her expertise helps strengthen our entire Network. Thank you, Kelly, for all you do to support California’s wildlife!

10/15/2025

10/15/2025

📣 NOW HIRING: We are seeking TWO leaders to help protect California’s wildlife during oil spills and other environmental emergencies:

➡Associate Director of Operations: oversee daily activities, animal care logistics, and field response.
➡Associate Director of Network Management: lead engagement with more than 40 wildlife care organizations across California.

These new positions play a critical role in ensuring oil-affected wildlife receive the best care during environmental emergencies. Join us by helping to lead a mission-driven team working to advance the rescue, care, and rehabilitation of California’s wildlife.

Application Deadline: November 5, 2025

Position details + application: owcn.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/careers

10/14/2025

Veterinary Technicians are at the heart of the OWCN's wildlife care efforts during oil spill responses. Their skill, compassion, and steady hands play vital roles in giving every animal the best possible chance to recover and return to the wild.

This , we’re celebrating the incredible RVTs across our Network who help make this life-saving work possible, starting with Bryan Whiting from CALM! Bryan has completed our Basic Responder Training as well as a custom OWCN Intake & Processing Training for CALM staff. He is a beloved member of the CALM team as part of the Animal Care Department, always going above and beyond for the animals AND his colleagues with his expertise and compassion.

Stay tuned as we highlight more of the talented vet techs who help keep California’s wildlife safe.

10/11/2025

: What an absolute privilege to join our oiled wildlife response colleagues from around the world for a very special endangered African penguin release led by SANCCOB saves seabirds.

Visit their page to learn about their incredible rescue and rehabilitation work, and stay tuned as we share updates from OWCN Management Team members as they participate in this coming week’s EOW Conference, hosted by SANCCOB in Cape Town, South Africa!