# José Ramírez-Garofalo

José R. Ramírez-Garofalo FRGS (born March 17, 1996) is an American ecologist, ornithologist, biogeographer, and naturalist known for his work on avian ecology, conservation biology, and the impact of environmental change on urban bird populations. His research focuses on the occurrence of species outside of their typical geographic range, the spread of zoonotic pathogens, and the interactions of species within urban ecosystems. He is a noted expert on the natural history of the Greater New York Area, and has published widely on the changing composition of the ecological communities of the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States since the turn of the 20th century.
On December 3, 2023, Ramírez-Garofalo was elected to serve as the fourth president of Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on preserving natural areas in New York City. He began his three year term in February 2024.

## Early life and education

José Ramírez-Garofalo was born on March 17, 1996, in Staten Island, New York to Kathy Garofalo, a United States National Park Service Ranger and former wildland firefighter, and Jose Ramirez-Torres a Puerto Rican United States Army veteran of the Vietnam War, retired United States National Park Service Ranger, and former wildland firefighter. He grew up on the North Shore of Staten Island and attended Tottenville High School on the Island's South Shore. His paternal grandfather José Ramirez-Pantoja was a United States Army veteran of World War II and member of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. He is a cousin of New Progressive Party politician and Mayor of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico María Vega Pagán.
From 2014 to 2021, Ramírez-Garofalo attended the College of Staten Island where he was an undergraduate student of mathematician and philosopher Joel David Hamkins and the ecologist Richard Veit. Upon completing his undergraduate work in Mathematics, he conducted graduate work in biology under the direction of Veit and macroecologist Lisa Manne, receiving his Master of Science degree in early-2021. Since September 2021 he has been a doctoral student of renowned ecologist Julie Lockwood in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources at Rutgers University.

## Research and career

With a wide network of colleagues, Ramírez-Garofalo has conducted research with a regional and global-focus, with publications ranging from the spread of southern ticks into the northeastern United States and changes in the migratory patterns of geese. In 2023, he served as a technical contributor on the Fifth U.S. National Climate Assessment.
Since the mid-2010s, he has been part of a team of ecologists that are conducting long-term ecological research at New York City's Freshkills Park, where he serves as the park's Director of Science and Research Development. Discoveries made by the small team of ecologists consisting of Shannon Curley from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Richard Veit of the City University of New York include the return of highly-specialized grassland birds like Sedge Wrens and Grasshopper Sparrows, and a previously unknown, regionally-important population of diamondback terrapins. The team also recorded established populations of the medically-significant Gulf Coast tick for the first time in northeastern North America beginning in 2017.
Ramírez-Garofalo has worked as a biologist specializing in Threatened and Endangered species for several organizations and institutions including the United States National Park Service where he worked with the threatened Piping Plover, and the NYC Bird Alliance (known as the New York City Audubon Society at the time) where he worked primarily with colonial waterbirds and shorebirds.
During his time with the U.S. National Park Service, Ramírez-Garofalo and his colleagues from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the New York Marine Rescue Center (then known as the Riverhead Foundation) documented nesting by the Kemp's ridley sea turtle on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, New York, the most northern latitude sea turtles have been recorded nesting. The eggs were eventually excavated from the nest site and incubated indoors, as Hurricane Florence was making landfall to the southeast, which caused high tides that risked their safety.
Since 2014, he has served as a site coordinator for the New York Horseshoe Crab Monitoring Network, which tracks the state's population of American horseshoe crab spawning activity. His horseshoe crab work was featured in the book Crab by Cynthia Chris.
Since 2019, Ramírez-Garofalo has been an adjunct professor in the Biology Department at the City University of New York's College of Staten Island. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for the peer-review journal Urban Naturalist, the journal of biodiversity data Check List, and as a Publication Editor for the journal of ornithological record North American Birds.
Ramírez-Garofalo is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission, where he is part of the Heron Specialist Group. Between 2020–2023, he served as the non-Pacific states representative to the Pacific Seabird Group's Executive Council. Since 2020 he has served on the Student Affairs Committee of the American Ornithological Society.
Ramírez-Garofalo has mentored and co-mentored a number of students at various career stages, including students from Staten Island Technical High School who were finalists at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, and students at institutions of higher education such as Cornell University, Rutgers University, and Yale University.
Ramírez-Garofalo frequently communicates science to the media, and has been quotes on a variety of topics within ecology including the recovery of Bald Eagles, the unappreciated importance of vagrancy in birds and issues related to the spread of invasive species. He has called for caution in the media's portrayal of public "squishing" campaigns for invasive species, where the public is urged to kill some invasive species on-sight, using the example of the similarity between lichens and the egg masses of the spotted lanternfly, which could lead to further destruction of the native biota. Following heavy coverage of the invasion of the joro spider in the eastern United States, he wrote "the truth is that millions of them are not floating in the skies of New York City or Boston and dropping in like paratroopers."

## Advocacy

Ramírez-Garofalo is an advocate for transparency in science, citing the work of Adrian Treves as what he believes should be a guiding principal in academics and scientific communication. Locally, he has advocated for the preservation of land in New York City, and has commented on the importance of keeping environmental mitigation within the communities that are being affected by proposed projects, such as in comments made to the New York City Department of City Planning on a planned wind turbine assembly facility in Staten Island, NY.