Frontier Airlines is an American ultra-low-cost carrier headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Frontier operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations and employs more than 3,000 staff.

Francie, the Piping Plover, is named for Dr. Francie Cuthbert, University of Minnesota, who leads the Great Lakes Piping Plover Research Team. The Piping Plover was close to extinction in the mid-1980s when the species was placed on the endangered list. The work of Dr. Cuthbert and others is helping to restore the species’ population.

In 1986 the Great Lakes population of the piping plover was listed as an endangered species. The same year, the Northern Great Plains and Atlantic Coast populations were also listed. Recovery actions in the Great Lakes, and on the wintering grounds have helped the plover population to steadily increase. In 2016, there were 75 breeding pairs across the Great Lakes basin. When Piping Plovers were listed as endangered in 1986 there were fewer than 20 pairs.