Dr. Joel Cracraft – How many “kinds” of birds are there on Earth: the intersection of science and conservation policy

Scientists have long debated the idea of species, and these different conceptions have impacted the way we understand how birds evolved.  These debates have also influenced people’s views of avian diversity as well as avian conservation policy. This talk will lay out these debates and show how they have real-world consequences for conserving global avian diversity.

Division Chair and Lamont Curator, Department of Ornithology, Division of Vertebrate Zoology
American Museum of Natural History

Principal Investigator
Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics

Professor
Richard Gilder Graduate School