Our research uses movement ecology as a framework to understand how individuals and populations respond to changes in their environment in order to project how future change may alter a population’s dynamics and evolutionary trajectory.
Our Philosophy
The natural world knows no political boundaries. That means that we are all stakeholders in the conservation of our biodiversity and our lab welcomes the involvement of anyone and everyone, no matter where they come from or how they identify themselves. We are also working to overcome our own biases, as well as those that have long prevailed in the scientific and conservation communities, by learning from and engaging with the communities whose lives intersect with the species we study.
The natural world knows no political boundaries. That means that we are all stakeholders in the conservation of our biodiversity and our lab welcomes the involvement of anyone and everyone, no matter where they come from or how they identify themselves. We are also working to overcome our own biases, as well as those that have long prevailed in the scientific and conservation communities, by learning from and engaging with the communities whose lives intersect with the species we study.
Breaking News
- Numerous studies have recently documented dramatic declines in shorebird populations. All of these studies, however, have relied on indices of abundance and we have a surprisingly poor understanding of how large most shorebird populations are actually. With the help of hundreds of volunteer community scientists, we have been carrying out surveys of the South American coast for the past 15 years to tackle this problem. Led by Fernando Faria, out now in the Journal of Field Ornithology, are our first population estimates for shorebirds along the Atlantic coast of South America. We find that Nearctic shorebirds in the region have indeed declined since the last estimates were generated in the early 1980s, although not as drastically as some other studies have suggested. We also find, though, the Neotropical breeding shorebird species have far larger populations than previously thought. Together, we hope that these results will provide an important baseline for the recovery of Nearctic shorebird populations.
- I am so excited to announce that I have taken an exciting new role as the Mass Audubon Bertrand Chair for Ornithology! In this new capacity here at UMass Amherst, I will be working closely with Mass Audubon to carry out research on Massachusetts birds throughout their annual cycles. I will also be helping Mass Audubon to strategize their bird conservation efforts and to reach out to people interested in birds in Massachusetts and beyond. Stay tuned for so much more to come on Massachusetts birds in the future!
- If you were a bird breeding in Alaska and wanted to make it to your nonbreeding grounds in Mexico as quickly as possible, how would you do it? Would you venture across 3500 km of open ocean in the Gulf of Alaska or hug the coastline? If you're a Short-billed Dowitcher, it depends on where in Alaska you are coming from and how much tailwind support you can find! In fact, those dowitchers that fly across the Gulf arrive to Mexico 19 days ahead of individuals that take the coastal route. To learn more, check out Rozy Bathrick's first dissertation chapter in Movement Ecology.
nsenner at umass.edu
Mass Audubon Bertrand Chair for Ornithology
Department of Environmental Conservation
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Holdsworth Hall 219
Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Mass Audubon Bertrand Chair for Ornithology
Department of Environmental Conservation
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Holdsworth Hall 219
Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.A.