Karen MM Steensma, MSc

Professor of Biology; Co-Chair, Department of Geography & Environment

“My work centers around food chains: who eats who? Where? Why?”

Professor Steensma is a wildlife/marine biologist and a life-long dairy farmer.  Her primary teaching responsibilities include vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, ecology, conservation biology, agroecology, marine ecology, and coral reef ecology. She advises pre-veterinary, wildlife biology, and marine biology students. In addition to TWU, she has taught in Washington State, Hawaii, Belize, and Western Samoa. Her research focus is the intersection between agriculture and wildlife, sustainability of food systems, and watershed health in both temperate and tropical ecosystems. Primary work from her lab has included place-based investigations of native species such as molluscs (Oregon forest snail) and birds (American kestrel falcons, Hawaiian short-eared owls) as well as impact of invasive species (European starlings, axis deer) on fruit crops, dairy farms, and beef ranches. Her research collaborators include TWU students and faculty members, agricultural and environmental scientists, and faculty and graduate students at Washington State University, University of Hawaii, Michigan State University, and the US National Wildlife Research Center.  Primary research funding has come from the BC Ministry of Agriculture, Environment Canada, the World Wildlife Fund, and the US Department of Agriculture.  Professor Steensma is married with 4 adult children who are all involved in the family’s pasture-based farm near Lynden, Washington.  The farm is home to 5 domesticated species of animals, at least 100 species of wild vertebrate animals, and countless species of wild invertebrates.

  • MSc, Biology (Western Washington University)
  • BSc, Biology (Washington State University)

Expertise

Oregon forest snail (Allogona townsendiana); American kestrel (Falco sparverius); Hawaiian short-eared owl (Asio flammeus sandwichensis); bird damage to fruit; bovine-avian interactions; watershed impacts of agriculture; transboundary streams;economic impacts of wildlife damage; sustainable agriculture; food security; agro-biodiversity; ecosystem services

Awards & Honours

See Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications

  • Shwiff, S, M Price, D Risch, M Thorne, KMM Steensma. 2024.  Economic estimates of invasive wild ungulate damage to livestock producers in Hawai’i. Pest Management Science. DOI 10.1002/ps.8446.
  • Lichtenwalter, C, K Steensma, M Marcondes, K Taylor, C McConnel, A Adams-Progar. 2023. Seasonal use of dairies as overnight roosts by Common Starlings (Sternus vulgaris). Birds 4:213-224.
  • Duvall, ES, EK Schwabe, KMM Steensma. 2023. A win-win between farmers and an apex-predator: investigating the relationship between bald eagles and dairy farms in the Pacific Northwest. Ecosphere Agroecosystems.10 pp. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4456
  • Bruner, N, M Pearson, KMM Steensma. 2021. GIS assessment of riparian reserve widths in critical habitat for the Salish Sucker (Catostomus sp.) in British Columbia since the Species at Risk Act was enacted. Western Geography 2021.
  • Flores-Ricardo, LA, MJ Gordillo-Perez, C Bosch-Diaz, KMM Steensma, B Reyes-Tur. 2021. Communal oviposition of the threatened Cuban tree snail Polymita muscarum (Gastropoda: Cepolidae) in an agroecosystem. Novitates Caribaea 17:187-195.
  • Adams-Progar, A, K Steensma, S Shwiff, J Elser, S Kerr, T Caskin. 2020. Understanding and preventing bird damage on dairies. Proceedings Vertebrate Pest Conference 29:1-3(Paper 56; solicited and peer-edited).
  • Elser, JL, CA Lindell, KMM Steensma, PD Curtis, DK Leigh*, WF Siemer, JR Boulanger, SA Shwiff. 2019. Measuring bird damage to three fruit crops: a comparison of grower and field estimates.  Crop Protection 123:1-4.
  • Elser, JL, AL Adams-Progar, KMM Steensma, TP Caskin, SR Kerr, SA Shwiff. 2019. Economic impacts of birds on dairies: Evidence from a survey of Washington dairy operators.  PLOS One Sept 2019: 12 pp. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222398 
  • Hannay, MB, JR Boulanger, PD Curtis, RA Eaton, BC Hawes, DK Leigh*, CA Rossetti, KMM Steensma, CA Lindell. 2019. Bird species and abundances in fruit crops and implications for bird management.  Crop Protection 120:43-49. 

  • BIOL 308 Vertebrate Zoology
  • BIOL 360 Invertebrate Zoology
  • BIOL 362 Marine Ecology
  • BIOL 364 Coral Reef Ecology
  • BIOL 381 General Ecology
  • BIOL 409 Thesis Preparation
  • BIOL 410 Senior Thesis
  • BIOL 484 Applied Ecology