Upcoming Programs
We are pleased to announce that Nuttall monthly meetings are back in person at Harvard.
L. Michael Romero - Stress in Birds
December 5, 2022
Professor of Biology, Tufts University
In contrast to stress-related disease in humans, the stress response is vital for helping wild birds survive in their natural habitats. I will present research showing that the hormonal and physiological responses to stress are important for birds to survive natural stressors such as storms, predation attempts, and starvation. The stress response may also show us how birds cope with human-created changes in their habitats.
Michael Romero, Professor of Biology at Tufts University, has studied stress for almost 40 years. He combines laboratory and field work to discover what causes stress in wild animals, what physiological and endocrinological responses are elicited, and how those responses help wild animals survive in their native habitats. A special focus is on how understanding stress can help in the conservation of species at risk from human activities. Although he has worked with over 100 different species, the majority of his work has focused on wild birds. Prof. Romero recently summarized the work in this field in a book he co-wrote with John Wingfield entitled: “Tempests, Poxes, Predators, and People: Stress in Wild Animals and How They Cope.”
Steven C. Latta - No Fool’s Errand: A Search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Louisiana
January 9, 2023
Director of Conservation and Field Research, National Aviary in Pittsburgh
The history of decline of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is long, complex, and controversial. The last widely accepted sighting of this species in continental North America was 1944. A collaboration between Project Principalis and the National Aviary has produced personal observations, sound recordings, trail camera photos, and drone videos suggesting the consistent presence of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers at our study site in Louisiana. Data indicate repeated re-use of foraging sites and core habitat. I will present some of these data, offer insights into behaviors of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker that contribute to difficulty in finding this species, and discuss some promising avenues for future research.
Steven C. Latta is Director of Conservation and Field Research at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. A native of Northern Michigan, he was educated at Kalamazoo College, the University of Michigan, and University of Missouri. After serving for 4 years as Director of the Latin American Program at Point Reyes Bird Observatory, he came to the National Aviary in 2006. Latta works extensively on Hispaniola, and across the Caribbean islands and Latin America, where his research has focused on understanding how migrant and resident species respond to natural and anthropogenic changes to habitat. He has used the Louisiana Waterthrush as a model species to study population dynamics and carry-over effects on both the temperate breeding and Neotropical over-wintering grounds. He is also using this species to understand the impact on birds of important water quality management issues including acid mine drainage and the use of hydraulic fracturing to access natural gas deposits. In 2019, he began a collaboration with Project Principalis in a search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Louisiana.
Past Programs
(NOC members, login to view and listen to presentations)
Pamela Rasmussen – History and Mystery: Reevaluating Avian Diversity in South Asia
Field problem presented: Robert Kennedy – Nantucket Offshore Wintering Wildfowl: Possible Impacts from Offshore Sand Mining Dr. Pamela Rasmussen’s research focuses on the diversity, vocalizations, taxonomy, and conservation of the avifauna of southern Asia. She recently (2005) co-authored a two-volume book, Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide, published in April 2005. She has also worked…
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John Kricher – Speciation in Neotropical Passerines
Field problem presented: Michael Schindlinger – Listening to the Amazon Dr. John Kricher is professor of biology at Wheaton College where he has served on the faculty for nearly forty years. He received his B.A. from Temple University and his PhD from Rutgers. In addition to Nuttall, he is a member of a number of professional…
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Rob Williams – Avian Endemism in Peru
Field problem presented: Paul Roberts – Population studies of American Kestrel Rob Williams did his undergraduate work in zoology at the University of Wales in Cardiff. He obtained his doctorate at the University of East Anglia where he studied Long-eared Owls. In 1999 he moved to Ecuador where he has worked with a number of conservation…
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William E. (Ted) Davis – Tasmania: A Study in Evolution
Field problem presented: Ralph Andrews – Is the Canada Goose Canadian? Dr. William E. (Ted) Davis received his B.A. from Amherst University, his M.A. from the University of Texas and his PhD in invertebrate biology from Boston University. He developed a deep interest in birds and has over the years authored over 150 papers and notes…
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Edwin Scholes III – Courtship, evolution, and natural history of New Guinea’s Birds of Paradise
Field problem presented: David Larson – Training naturalist guides Ed Scholes III has been researching birds of paradise in New Guinea since 1999 when he made his first trip to Papua New Guinea, and he has returned for fieldwork each year since. Ed’s research interests are primarily on the evolution of the spectacular morphological and behavioral…
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Hiroyoshi “Hito” Higuchi – Ecology of bird migration in East Asia
Field problem presented: Wayne Petersen – Slaty-backed Gull: The next Lesser Black-backed Gull? Prof. Hiroyoshi “Hito” Higuchi is professor of conservation biology and ornithology at the Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Tokyo; former president and Director of Research of the Ornithological Society of Japan; and chair of the Asian Section…
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Kim Bostwick – Evolution of wing sounds in the Manakins (Pipridae)
Field problem presented: David Donsker – What’s in a name? Dr. Kimberly S. Bostwick is Curator of Birds and Mammals at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates and a Research Associate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University in New York.
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John O’Neill – Recipe for peparing a guide to one of the largest avifaunas in the world: The case for Peru
Field problem presented: Tom French – Peregrine Falcon recovery in NY and NE Dr John P. O’Neill is research associate at the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science. He is the discoverer of more bird species (13) new to science than any other living person. He is also a wildlife painter and coauthor of the…
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Ian Nisbet – From eggs to senescence: Long-term studies of Common Terns
Field problem presented: Peter Alden – Central and South American bird field guides Ian Nisbet, NOC member since 1975, is an independent tern researcher who has been the primary monitor for the Roseate Tern and Common Tern colonies in Buzzard’s Bay, particularly at Bird Island. Dr Nisbet was born in the UK and received his PhD…
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Richard O. Prum – The evolution of feathers
Field problem presented: Brian Cassie – Does Massachusetts end? Professor Richard Prum, Curator of Ornithology in the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History and Head Curator of Vertebrate Zoology, is an evolutionary ornithologist with broad interests in diverse topics, including phylogenetics, behavior, feathers, structural color, evolution and development, sexual selection, and historical biogeography. His recent research…
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Peter Vickery – Grasslands of the Americas
Field problem presented: Ron Lockwood – Grasshopper Sparrow demographics at Fort Devens After working for Massachusetts Audubon, Peter Vickery founded the Center for Ecological Research, a non-profit organization in Maine. It is devoted to conservation and ecological research. He is also on the faculties of University of Massachusetts and University of Maine. Peter did his PhD…
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Herb Raffaele – Saving Caribbean birds
Field problem presented: Ted Davis – Reporting bird behavior Dr. Herb Raffaele, Chief of the International Division of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, received his degrees in wildlife conservation and ecology from the State University of New York in 1983. He has published often on wildlife conservation and is responsible for the creation of education…
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H. Doug Pratt – Hawaiian honeycreepers
Field problem presented: Jim Berry – Nesting birds H. Doug Pratt is currently research curator at North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences. He received his PhD in biology at LSU in 1969. He began studying Hawaiian honeycreepers 30 years ago and has expanded his research into endemic birds of Pacific Ocean islands.
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Tim Laman – Birds of paradise
Field problem presented: Wayne Petersen – We can’t be too careful Tim Laman has been working in New Guinea, collaborating with Edwin Scolz. Tim received his PhD in evolutionary biology at Harvard in 1994. He began working in Borneo and became a regular contributor to National Geographic. The work presented was a preview of an article…
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Dick Veit – Vagrancy
Field problem presented: Ian Nisbet – Roseate Terns Dick Veit received his undergraduate degree in biology at UMass Boston and his graduate degree at University of California at Irvine. He is currently professor of biology at College of Staten Island. He has published 44 publications and 1 book (Birds of Massachusetts with Wayne Petersen), mentors 14…
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Simon Perkins – Cape Wind
Simon Perkins is field ornithologist with Massachusetts Audubon Society. He began researching Cape Wind and its proposed wind turbines in Nantucket Sound approximately 4 years ago and presented the up-to-the minute results of his research to the Club.
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Reuven Yosef – Eilat
Reuven Yosef has worked at the Raptor Research Center in Eilat, Israel, since 1984 and has been the director since 1993. He received his PhD at Ohio State University and conducted his post-doc work on shrikes at Florida’s Archibald Research Center. He has been involved in developing educational programs on raptors, primarily in the Old…
Read MoreDr. John Kricher: The influence of the Galapagos Islands on evolutionary thinking
The influence of the Galapagos Islands on evolutionary thinking. https://vimeo.com/198576752
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