Conservationist Shiloh Schulte, of Kennebunk, dies in research helicopter crash in Alaska
A conservationist from Kennebunk, Maine, died in a helicopter crash while conducting conservation work in Alaska.
The death of Shiloh Schulte, PhD,, who previously served as an elected official in Kennebunk, was announced by the Manomet Conservation Sciences. A GoFundMe has been set up to support his family, including his wife and two daughters.
He was 46.
"Shiloh was a lifelong birdwatcher, conservationist, and scientist whose passion for the natural world was infectious," the GoFundMe, co-organized by Jonah Jill Schulte reads. "From a young age, he could be found exploring forests and wetlands with binoculars in hand, always eager to discover and share the wonders of the avian world. His dedication to protecting shorebirds and their habitats took him to some of the most remote and challenging environments on Earth, where he worked tirelessly to ensure a future for these vulnerable species."
Schulte previously served on the Kennebunk Select Board. Schulte was elected chairman of the board in July 2022. At the time, his colleagues said he had a "really great way about him to move things forward, regardless of where he is on the spectrum of an issue.'
Schulte's work with the Manomet Conservation Sciences included working as the coordinator for the American Oystercatcher Recovery Program. He is credited with rebuilding the American Oystercatcher, a large shorebird once believed to be locally extirpated, by 45%.
"Shiloh gave his life in the service of something greater than himself, dedicating himself to preserving the natural world for future generations," the Manomet Conservation Sciences said.
His family said he will be remembered as more than a scientist.
"Shiloh was so much more than a scientist," the GoFundMe page states. "He was a devoted husband and father, a loving son and brother, a generous neighbor, and a pillar of his community. Whether he was helping a neighbor with yard work, leading the town Select Board, running a marathon or inspiring others through his photography and storytelling, Shiloh gave his all—always with a warm heart and boundless energy."
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunk biologist Shiloh Schulte dies in Alaskan helicopter crash
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For those structures, a hardened seawall serves as the core, buried beneath a sandy dune layer that often features native vegetation more conducive to wildlife habitat. For oystercatchers in the Mosquito Lagoon, a living shoreline can serve as valuable high ground for the birds to roost during high tide, without straying far from the oyster reefs they depend on for food. And a living system of mangroves and marsh grasses comes with another superpower, Evans said: built-in resilience. The native plants' roots help hold sediment from the lagoon in place, effectively allowing the land to 'grow up.' 'Even as the sea rises, then your mangroves can, in theory, keep up with it, because they're grabbing sediments,' Evans said. 'Just like a seawall is engineered, living shorelines are engineered: to stabilize, to withstand storms, and even in some cases to withstand a little bit of sea level rise.' Shorelines and beaches naturally shift over time, drifting and changing shape with the winds and waves. That makes a living shoreline's capacity to adapt to its surroundings — unlike a static seawall — one of its biggest strengths, said Melinda Donnelly, an assistant research scientist and biology professor at UCF who works with Walters. Right now, Donnelly is working on a model to help predict where in the Indian River Lagoon living shorelines are most likely to succeed, based on variables like tidal conditions and wave energy thresholds for different plants. Many previous living shoreline projects have largely relied on trial and error, Donnelly said. The goal is for the model to help maximize time and resources when planning how to stabilize a shoreline, and ultimately 'end up with sort of a combination of methods, rather than just basically hardening every shoreline throughout the lagoon,' Donnelly said. Especially over time, more living shorelines will translate to a healthier lagoon ecosystem overall, Walters said. That means more attractive shorebird habitat. 'It's good for birds, it's good for fish. It's good for commercial species, recreational species,' Walters said. 'It's good for all the plants and just everything in the lagoon. So basically, it means it's good for us.' 'A lot of potential' Moving forward, managing the species' continued recovery in Florida will require prioritizing ways to help nesting oystercatchers. Right now, there are only 419 breeding adults documented statewide, according to Brush with FWC. In 2013, there were also fewer than 500, according to the agency's species action plan. 'Because there's not that many birds, every single nesting pair is important. And every time you get a new nesting pair entering the breeding population, that's huge,' Brush said. Specifically along the Atlantic coast in Central Florida, there is great opportunity to help grow oystercatcher populations, Brush said. 'In general, where we are seeing birds try to enter the breeding population in great numbers [in Florida] is along the Atlantic coast.' But the challenge of habitat loss and degradation persists, especially as Central Florida's coasts are developed and hardened. If more oystercatchers here are to grow and breed successfully, improving habitat conditions will be critical. 'At some point, we will be limited by available habitat,' Brush said. 'There's a lot of potential to grow the population of oystercatchers on the Atlantic coast … if we have some more resources to dedicate toward habitat enhancement and restoration.' While resources are limited, Brush said, FWC is adept at making good use of them. 'We're constantly in FWC keeping the pulse on how species are doing, and where we need to allocate resources where species may not be doing as well.' One huge part of that equation, Brush said, is partnership. The national oystercatcher working group helps foster collaboration between states. 'We watched our local population improve in Florida as part of that network,' Brush said. 'The state of Florida can't do it without our conservation partners.' A culture of partnership will be crucial to continuing American oystercatchers' recovery, according to conservation experts. Although oystercatchers have made promising gains in the last 15 years, the work is by no means over. The (flight) path forward: 'It takes a village' Oystercatchers continue to face existential threats, from predators like rats and raccoons to habitat loss caused by human interference, sea level rise and storms. 'The difference is we as a working group have discovered many of the ways to manage and mitigate many of those threats, as long as we have people in the field doing that work,' Schulte said. That last piece is critical — and a growing concern for wildlife experts like Schulte, as the Trump administration's sweeping 'waste-reduction' measures usher longtime experts out of staff positions and interrupt some grant-funded projects already underway. It's not uncommon for conservation funds to fluctuate between (and sometimes during) presidential administrations, Schulte said. But this time is different. 'There's always uncertainty. It's never been like: 'We're stopping everything,' and no necessary guarantee as to whether it's going back,' Schulte said. 'We haven't seen that before, at all, where a project that's underway gets canceled.' Nationally and within states where oystercatchers breed, including Florida, government agencies are now missing some core personnel who made up the 'bedrock' of shorebird conservation, Schulte said. 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Even in the smoothest of political climates, armed with the newest and best science, conservation experts know their work is bound to involve a certain level of uncertainty. Instead of running away from the inevitable, Brush, with FWC, said she focuses on learning from the (literally) changing tides. 'We need to keep looking for opportunities while we're navigating the uncertainty. 'That uncertainty is always looming,' Brush said. 'When a storm hits, you have to be looking for opportunity as you're evaluating your habitat loss.' Adaptation is no strange concept in a state where hurricanes routinely ravage and refashion coastlines and communities. Still, the ability to quickly pivot and seek out new possible solutions requires a strong foundation, like the network of partners making up the oystercatcher working group. And citizen scientists, like Hartgrove in Port Orange, are also 'absolutely instrumental' to shorebird recovery, Brush said. 'It takes a village,' Brush said. 'There's always opportunities. You just have to look for them.'
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