Robert J. Ritchie, M.S. Senior Scientist

• Raptor Specialist
• TES Studies
• Business Development

Bob Ritchie established himself as an Alaskan biologist and natural resource specialist in the early 1970s, co-founding ABR in 1976. He rose to CEO in the early 2000s and opened up the business to employee ownership in 1995 and again in 2012.  Currently he is a Director on ABR's Board.

His research interests have focused on raptor and waterfowl biology, particularly on Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagles in interior and northern Alaska, and swans, geese, and eiders in northern Alaska. Bob has worked on a number of long-term wildlife monitoring projects including 17 years of Snow Goose banding and colony censuses on the Arctic Coastal Plain, 20 years of Tundra Swan surveys within the Kuparuk Oilfield, and surveys for raptors along the Tanana River spanning 20 years. 

In recent years, Bob has concentrated on conducting endangered species surveys, expanding ABR's business base, instituting conservation practices at work, and leading ABR toward a triple-bottom line philosophy. Bob's initiatives have included investing ABR's employee retirement in SRI funds, measuring and mitigating for our carbon footprint, and supporting employee time with local non-profit organizations. 

Publications

• Leach, A. G., D. H. Ward, J. S. Sedinger, M. S. Lindberg, W. S. Boyd, J. W. Hupp, and R. J. Ritchie. 2017. Declining survival of black brant from subarctic and arctic breeding areas. Journal of Wildlife Management 81:1210–1218.
• Ambrose, S., R. J. Ritchie, and C. Florian. 2014. Use of and responses to audio survey technique by Peregrine Falcons in Alaska. Northwestern Naturalist 95:125–128. <doi:10.1898/NWN13-33.1>
• Ritchie, R. J., R. Burgess, T. Obritschkewitsch, A. Prichard, and L. Attanas. 2014. Surveys for nesting and brood-rearing Brant and Lesser Snow Geese, Barrow to Fish Creek Delta, Alaska, 2013. Draft Report for North Slope Borough, Department of Wildlife Management, Barrow, AK, by ABR, Inc.—Environmental Research & Services, Fairbanks, AK. 70 pp.
• Shook, J. E., R. J. Ritchie, and T. J. Mabee. 2012. Avian and Bat Protection Plan for the Eva Creek Wind Energy Project, Alaska. Unpublished report prepared for Golden Valley Electric Association, Fairbanks, AK, and SAIC Energy, Environment and Infrastructure LLC, Denver, CO, by ABR, Inc., Fairbanks, AK. 27 pp.
• Ritchie, R. J., and J. E. Shook. 2011. Recovery and trends of Peregrine Falcons breeding in the Yukon-Tanana Uplands, East-Central Alaska, 1995–2003. Raptor Research 45:150–159.
• Ritchie, R. J., A. M. Wildman, and D. A. Yokel. 2003. Aerial Surveys of Cliff-nesting Raptors in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, 1999, with comparisons to 1977. Technical Note 413. Bureau of Land Management, Denver, CO. BLM/AK.ST-03/016+6501+023. 66 pp.
• Ritchie, R. J., J. G. King, A. A. Stickney, B. A. Anderson, J. R. Rose, A. M. Wildman, and S. Hamilton. 2002. Population trends and productivity of Tundra Swans on the Central Arctic Coastal Plain, northern Alaska, 1989–2000. Pages 22–31 in Rees, E.C., S.L. Earnst, and J. Coulson (eds.). Proceedings of the Fourth International Swan Symposium, 2001. Waterbirds 25, Special Edition 1.
• Ritchie, R. J., and J. G. King. 2000. Tundra Swans. Pages 197–220 in Truett, J. C., and S. R. Johnson. (eds.). The Natural History of an Arctic Oil Field. Academic Press, NY.
• Ritchie, R. J., R. M. Burgess, and R. S. Suydam. 2000. Status and nesting distribution of Lesser Snow Geese, Chen caerulsecens caerulescens, and Brant, Branta bernicla nigricans, on the western Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska. Canadian Field-Naturalist 114 (3): 395–404.
• Ritchie, R. J., and Ambrose, R. E. 1996. Distribution and Population Status of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in Interior Alaska. Arctic 49(2): 120–128.
• White, C. M., R. J. Ritchie, and B. A. Cooper. 1995. Density and productivity of Bald Eagles in Prince William Sound, Alaska, after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Pages 762–775 in P. G. Wells, J. N. Butler, and J. S. Hughes, eds. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Fate and Effects in Alaskan Waters. Special Technical Publication 1219, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA.