David A Manuwal

David A. Manuwal is a Professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington in Seattle. He arrived at the College of Forest Resources in 1972 as the second of two professors in the field of Wildlife Science. He has taught a wide variety of courses to both graduate and undergraduate students. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1977 and to Professor in 1983. On July 20, 1968, he was married to my dear wife Naomi of Kalispell, Montana at Logan Pass in Glacier National Park, Montana. In 1978, their son John was born in Seattle and in 1981, their daughter Joy was born in Redmond, Washington. Over the years he and his wife have conducted research in Alaska and Washington. Since 1980, they have been involved in church activities and dedicated much of their time to raising their children in a Christian environment.

Biographical Information

David Manuwal received a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation at Purdue University in 1966, an M.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Montana in 1968, and a Ph.D. in Zoology at UCLA in 1972. Since 1972, he has been a faculty member in the Wildlife Science Group in the College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle.

I became interested in birds when I was about 9 years old. During my teen years I was very active in the South Bend (Indiana) Audubon Society. On many field trips I quickly learned the birds of eastern North America and in 1960 made my first trip to the West where I became familiar with many western species. Upon completion of high school, I was awarded a scholarship to the Audubon Camp of Maine where I became enthralled with seabirds and vowed to study them some time in the future. I completed an undergraduate degree at Purdue and then went west to the Univ. of Montana where I studied forest bird ecology for an MS degree. I left Montana for UCLA where I was to fulfill my vow to study seabirds. After completing my Ph.D. I came to the UW where I continued studying seabirds and forest birds.

In the earlier years at the UW, I conducted a substantial amount of research on seabirds in Washington and Alaska. During the past 17 years, I have accumulated a substantial amount of field data on bird populations in both natural as well as intensively managed forest environments. This has involved extensive point count surveys in the Washington Cascade Mountains. Another focus of my research has been examining the relationship between the structural features of coniferous and riparian forests and bird species composition, abundance and guild development. I have continued to be involved in studies of the ecology of marine birds and bird conservation.

In 1979-1980, I was a Visiting Associate Professor of Zoology at the University of Montana where I taught courses in mammalogy, animal behavior and colonial bird ecology. I took a short sabbatical leave to Bemidji State University in northern Minnesota in summer and fall of 1985. In 1997-1999 I was the Director of the Cascade Ecology Institute, a summer field-oriented program located at the UW?s Pack Forest near Mount Rainier National Park. Recently, I became Chair of my department (Ecosystem Science) and so have been quite busy with administrative duties as well as continuing research in bird ecology and teaching three courses in the fall of 2001.

My Personal Story

During my life Christians have touched me. My parents were not regular churchgoers but I had good role models in my maternal grandparents. When I was 8 years old, my parents were divorced. An event that was traumatic but something I was eventually able to accept. I was the only child, so the adjustments were a little difficult to make without being able to talk to a sibling. During the five years when my mother and I were alone, we became close and she made several sacrifices to make sure that I grew up with good values. She encouraged me to go to church, which I did sporadically through my grade school years.
Even though I believed in God and Jesus, I was not a committed Christian and did not have a personal relationship with Christ. After my parents divorce, I was mostly estranged from my father. Later, my mother re-married but I never was able to have a close relationship with my stepfather who was often a difficult person to live with. Just before I was married, my wife-to-be suggested I should invite my father and stepmother to our wedding. I did this and they came-all of them came. It was the beginning of new relationships and has lasted to the present. Since divorcing my mother, my dad had become a Christian and he married a strong Christian lady. My own journey finally took the right turn in April 1980 when I committed my life to Christ in Missoula, Montana. My wife Naomi had much to do with this as well as a Nazarene pastor. Since then, I have tried to lead the life Christ has wanted me to live. Of course, there have been some bumps along the way, but I am thankful for the direction He has given me and all the blessings that my family has received from Him. My mission is to have an impact for Christ on my fellow faculty colleagues and students.