Welcoming a New Team Member

As many of you are aware, Scott Buhl migrated from the OWCN to the California Veterinary Emergency Team last year. Given the numerous spill responses the OWCN was activated for over the winter it’s taken us a little bit of extra time to replace that position. 

That said, we are thrilled to announce the newest member of the OWCN Management Team, Wildlife Planning Specialist, Frankie Lill.

Frankie is a California transplant from Illinois, where she received a Bachelor's degree in Biology at Western Illinois University. After graduating Frankie moved to California in search of animal care work and has never looked back.

Frankie began her career in animal care at the Aquarium of the Pacific as a husbandry volunteer turned Aviculturist and ultimately worked her way up to the Volunteer Coordinator for Mammal and Birds. Although she has worked with many land animals, aquatic birds and amphibians have Frankie’s heart. While at the aquarium, Frankie worked primarily with Magellanic Penguins, diving bird & shorebird species, and many different species of amphibians, including California’s endangered Mountain Yellow Legged Frogs. Frankie has been an active OWCN Volunteer since 2017 and responded to the Pipeline P00547 Incident, alongside various UMEs out of SoCal since then.

Frankie dually spent her career at the aquarium running the volunteer program for the department and stayed very involved in her community of Long Beach. After 8 years working at the Aquarium of the Pacific, with much excitement, Frankie has joined the OWCN Management Team as a Wildlife Planning Specialist.

You may have figured out that Frankie is the new “Scott”, and for those of you who know Scott he is a tough act to follow. Luckily, Frankie is up for the challenge! Frankie has been with us for two weeks and is doing a great job getting well-acquainted with her new role. Fortunately, as the OWCN Primary Contact at the Aquarium of the Pacific, one of OWCN’s Member Organizations, she had a big head start!

Please join us in giving Frankie a warm welcome to her new role with the OWCN.

Cheers,

Danene Birtell

OWCN Management Team