voc 2021 episode 07: Randy Loftus

Randy Loftus bird banding red tailed hawk
(Courtesy photo)

Sailor, Marine Biologist, Wildlife Photographer

“I grew up & was educated near Bethesda, MD. I majored in Biology and Graduated from Cornell College with a BA degree. I went to sea on the research vessel Ridgely Warfield operated by the Johns Hopkins' Chesapeake Bay Institute for 18 years. During that time I organized and conducted over 500 research cruises which represented about 3200 research days in the coastal mid Atlantic and the Chesapeake, Delaware, New York estuaries. I was thanked in 100 scientific research papers for my technical assistance. After Chesapeake Bay Institute (CBI) was 'downsized' I worked for the University of Maryland's Chesapeake Biolgical Lab in Solomons, MD ( 2 yrs.) and became the Campus' IT Specialist. I then joined the US Fish & Wildlife Service's Chesapeake Bay Field Office as a Computer Specialist and was later promoted to Regional IT Specialist and then I retired after 25 years. My hobby is wildlife photography.”