Jeff Foster–Scatological Adventures in Avian Food Webs

Professor of Biology at Northern Arizona University Despite food and foraging being critical to maintaining bird populations, efficient and detailed assessment of diets has been elusive for many species. Molecular approaches, specifically fecal metabarcoding, have revolutionized our understanding of what birds eat. This talk will describe recent developments in the molecular analysis of bird diets…

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Nancy Chen – The complex consequences of dispersal in a fragmented landscape

Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Rochester The movement of individuals within and among populations is an important source of evolutionary change. Our understanding of the impact of individual movement on population dynamics and fitness is limited by our inability to directly measure dispersal distances and the reproductive success of immigrants, except in a…

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Nathan W. Cooper – Full annual cycle biology: Lessons from North America’s rarest songbird

Research Ecologist, Migratory Bird Center, Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute Cooper will present his research on North America’s rarest songbird, the Kirtland’s Warbler. Over the past few decades, Kirtland’s Warblers have undergone a remarkable recovery, from just 167 males in the world in 1987 to more than 2200 males today. In addition to…

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Wendy Puryear – The changing landscape of influenza: the global situation, and its impact on birds of the North Atlantic

Scientist at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University Wild birds, especially waterfowl, seabirds, and shorebirds, have long been considered the natural reservoir for Influenza A virus (IAV). The majority of IAV subtypes in wild birds are considered Low Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (LPAI) and cause little to no disease. High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI)…

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Richard Primack and Amanda Gallinat – Concord Birds, Climate change, and Thoreau

Richard Primack is a professor of plant ecology at Boston University and Amanda Gallinat is a visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at Colby College The detailed records of bird sightings and phenological observations around Concord from the last 170 years—from Thoreau, Brewster, and Griscom’s notes to today’s studies by scientists at Boston University—provide a…

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Kristen Ruegg – The Bird Genoscape Project: Harnessing the power of genomics for migratory bird conservation

Kristen Ruegg is Assistant Professor at Colorado State University Most populations of migratory birds are now threatened. It is estimated that the populations of 1 out of every 2 songbirds are declining in the Western Hemisphere with impacts predicted to worsen with climate change. However, because migratory birds have both breeding, migratory and wintering areas…

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David N. Bonter – Public engagement in science: For birds, people, and conservation

Public engagement in science: For birds, people, and conservation Studying birds provide a remarkable window into the coupling of natural and human systems. This presentation will explore what we have learned about birds and people through engaging the public in scientific research. With a focus on Project FeederWatch (www.feederwatch.org), a program with data from more…

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Rebecca Jo Safran – The role of adaptation in phenotype divergence and speciation: an integrative and comparative perspective

Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Colorado-Boulder Evolutionary mechanisms lead to changes in the phenotypic and genomic features of populations; population genetics and patterns of phenotype differentiation are often used to infer which of these mechanisms are at work. Here, I highlight the need to more directly study the underlying…

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Amber Roth – A 25-year journey to recover a rapidly declining forest songbird, the Golden-winged Warbler

Assistant Professor of Forest Wildlife Management, University of Maine Dr. Amber Roth began studying Golden-winged Warbler in 1998 as a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin. Little did she know then that this was the beginning of a long journey of research, monitoring, and conservation to aid this rapidly declining migratory forest species. Today…

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