I am a passionate scientific communicator, and love talking to all audiences about birds, migration, species at risk, climate change and more! I have been featured on TVO's Finding Stuff Out episode on migration and presented to kids across North America on Exploring By the Seat of Your Pants on the conservation of migratory birds in a rapidly changing world. I am a frequent guest on CBC radio on all things birdy, from Snowy Owl's caught on traffic cams, why Red-winged Blackbirds are so territorial in spring, and turkeys, turkeys, and more turkeys!
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McGill Bird Observatory
(Observatoire d'Oiseaux de McGill) I am a co-founder and current director of the McGill Bird Observatory (MBO). The MBO's primary focus is on monitoring and researching birds for the purpose of conservation, as well as general education and outreach. The monitoring of bird population occurs throughout the year, with spring and fall migration monitoring, summer MAPS (monitoring avian productivity and survival programs), as well as winter finch and snow bunting banding. We are closely associated with McGill University and the greater Montréal community. I also co-supervise graduate and undergraduate students at McGill University working on a variety of research projects on the phenology, physiology, and ecology of migrating songbirds.
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Avian Species-at-RiskOver the last 10 years I have been involved in species-at-risk research and conservation in Canada. My work focuses on birds in novel or human-modified landscapes, such as the agroecosystem.
I worked with Bobolinks for my M.Sc. research, later serving as a species expert and co-author for the Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark Recovery Strategy. I have been contacted by dozens of groups and landowners for management and conservation advice on grassland birds, including the City of Montréal and Ducks Unlimited Canada. For my PhD research I worked with another species-at-risk in a human-modified landscape, the Red-headed Woodpecker. I focused my research and outreach activities in Northumberland, Norfolk, and Elgin counties in Ontario. My work was funded by the Species at Risk Stewardship Fund of Ontario, which support my creation and distribution of information brochures and flyers to hundreds of landowners and managers. I also authored several articles and presented information talks to various naturalist and conservation groups.
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Women in ScienceDuring my years as a graduate student I became increasingly aware of challenges facing #womeninscience. I joined the organizing committee for the 2014 Symposium for Women Entering Ecology and Evolution Today (SWEEET), featuring a panelist group and discussion on Self-Advocacy in Science. I also organizing Women in Academia series at McGill University in 2014.
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