Wildlife Team

Wildlife on Kiawah is managed by a team dedicated to the ecological balance of the island. Maintaining the environmental health of the unique community requires protecting and preserving the fragile ecosystem with care and attention.

Jim Jordan

WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST

jjordan@kiawahisland.org

Jim has served as Wildlife Biologist for the Town of Kiawah Island since 2000. He is from Columbia, SC and received a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Furman University and a Master of Science Degree in Wildlife Ecology and Management from the University of Georgia.  Jim’s work at Kiawah involves nuisance wildlife management, invasive plant control, beach management, wildlife population surveys, community outreach, and wildlife research. He has conducted and/or coordinated a variety of research projects on Kiawah Island, focusing primarily on white-tailed deer ecology and fawn survival, bobcat ecology and habitat use, songbird migration and banding, and most recently, alligator physiology and behavior.

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Aaron Given

ASSISTANT WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST

agiven@kiawahisland.org

Aaron has been the Assistant Wildlife Biologist for the Town of Kiawah Island since 2008.  He grew up in Oswego, IL (a far suburb of Chicago) and graduated with a B.S. in Zoology from Southern Illinois University in 2000.   Aaron went on to attend Southeast Missouri State University where he received a M.S. in Wildlife Biology in 2005.  In graduate school, he studied the wintering ecology of yellow rails in coastal Texas.  This is where he got his first exposure to bird banding and was fascinated with being able to study and observe the birds in such fine detail.  His primary research interest is in ornithology with a special focus on avian ecology and management, passerine migration ecology, and secretive marshbird ecology.  Aaron currently manages one of the most ambitious bird banding stations in the southeast focusing on fall migration, wintering marsh sparrows,  Painted Buntings, and Wilson’s Plovers.

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