Conservation Science

Fellow Story

When fireflies await a night that never comes

Avalon Owens' research found that while some fireflies shrugged off light pollution, members of other species failed to mate even when males and females could find each other.
August 29, 2022
Fellow Story

Rubega quoted in Atlantic on if woodpeckers have shock-absorbing heads

A July 2022 article by the Atlantic, How to Successfully Smash Your Face Against a Tree, explores a recent study which refutes the widespread idea that woodpeckers have shock-absorbing heads. Switzer Fellow Margaret Rubega is quoted in the article saying "[the study] really lays to rest the idea that some part of the head is acting as a shock absorber.” The article continues:
July 27, 2022
Fellow Story

34 House Members ask EPA to implement Clean Water Act rules on ships' discharges

On June 23, 2022, thirty-four members of the House of Representatives and 74 organizations submitted a letter to the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency requesting the agency to establish discharge standards for ships' ballast water that comply with the Clean Water Act.
July 27, 2022
Fellow

Leslie (Leke) Hutchins

2022 Fellow
Leke (Kānaka ʻŌiwi, Native Hawaiian) studies Indigenous food and data sovereignty and conservation in Hawaiʻi. He hopes to create pathways for more Kānaka ʻŌiwi farmers to access land, expand Indigenous agroecosystems, and support insect biodiversity.
Fellow Story

Reed and Zeller featured in the Conversation on making room for wildlife

Studies by fellows Kathy Zeller and Sarah Reed find that wildlife is just not that into you, and that your presence has a big impact.
June 23, 2022
Fellow

Ka Ki (Lily) Law

2022 Fellow
Originally fascinated by a composting program as a kid in Hong Kong, Lily is passionate about environmental sciences and ecology. She studies soil microbial ecology on urban grasslands and aims to bring ecosystem restorations closer to immigrant and low-income communities.
Fellow

Melinda Adams

2022 Fellow
Melinda (N’dee, San Carlos Apache) examines plant and soil biochemical responses to cultural burns using Traditional Ecological Knowledge with Tribal partners. Her research intersects environmental policy and science, and is rooted in Native ways of knowing and being.
Fellow

Nicholas Dorian

2022 Fellow
Nick is an ecologist, educator, and naturalist studying how native bees cope with the impacts of climate change in order to develop strategies for bee conservation. His public education efforts reconnect people with urban nature and teach them to support pollinators in their own yards.
Fellow

Natalia Aristizábal

2022 Fellow
Witnessing deforestation firsthand in Colombia motivated Natalia to become a conservation scientist. She now studies the connections between biodiversity, global change, and agriculture. Specifically, how climate and land-use change affect nature’s contributions to coffee production.
Fellow Story

Stewart study finds that larger North Atlantic right whale females have more calves

Northern Atlantic right whale length-at-age is decreasing due to the impacts of sub-lethal entanglements, and the body condition of the population is poorer than closely related southern right whales.
June 22, 2022