ECORP Biologists Receive Glenn R. Stewart Service Award at the Desert Tortoise Council Symposium 2026

This year marked the 51st Annual Desert Tortoise Council (DTC) Meeting and Symposium held on February 24 through February 27, 2026 at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The DTC is at the forefront promoting conservation of the desert tortoise in the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico. 

ECORP was an exhibitor and a Bronze Sponsor of the symposium and ECORP biologists, Alden Lovaas, Taylor Dee, Verity Richardson, and Wendy Turner were in attendance. Alden, Taylor, Verity and Wendy participated in the symposium as volunteers and members of the Host and Arrangements Committee. 

The symposium began with a field trip to two U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) demography plots: Silver State and Sheep Mountain. The field trip was an opportunity not only to see the demography plots, but also to discuss what researchers and biologists are doing for the tortoises in the region and the progression of tortoise research. Topics of discussion included tortoise landscape and corridor use, study plot design, factors that influence tortoise demographics and distribution, and the natural progression from long-distance sampling to a new analysis and algorithm: ‘seeker,’ a spatial mark-recapture involving hi-grading or intuitive surveying. Field trip attendees, including ECORP biologists Alden, Taylor, Verity, and Wendy were able to see the demography plots and hear the discussion between USGS researchers including U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) Biologists with the Desert Tortoise Recovery office.

The symposium session’s topics were diverse and informed attendees on current research on and relating to desert tortoises. Session topics included translocation and headstarting, updates from United States Fish and Wildlife and Bureau of Land Management, habitat connectivity, and studies on Sonoran desert tortoises on Tiburon Island and El Pitayal in Sonora, Mexico. 

Two of ECORP’s biologists, Alden Lovaas and Taylor Dee, received the Glenn R. Stewart Service Award, for their participation in and contribution to the DTC’s Environmental Advisory Committee. The Glenn R. Stewart Service Award recognizes a member of the Council or an organization that has demonstrated a continuing commitment to the goal and objectives of the Council and/or served with distinction in various roles.