You are invited
MONDAY EVENING, December 4:00 pm, AT 7 PM
Tracking Seabirds to inform Marine Conservation
in the New York Bight and beyond
Dr. Juliet Lamb, The Nature Conservancy
As wide-ranging marine predators, seabirds can provide important information about the health of marine ecosystems. At the same time, many seabird species are in decline due a variety of stressors including overfishing, pollution, contaminants, climate change, introduced predators, and disease. Understanding how seabirds occupy and interact with marine habitats can inform effective conservation strategies for both seabirds and the ecosystems they inhabit. Along the Atlantic coast, development of offshore wind energy is crucial to averting catastrophic impacts of climate change, but also introduces a potential additional stressor for marine birds. Offshore wind energy may affect seabirds both positively and negatively by creating barriers to movement, displacing or attracting birds, and altering distribution of marine prey. Although surveys have been conducted to understand distributions of seabirds in proposed wind energy areas, individual-level data are lacking to evaluate how many marine birds use both proposed wind energy areas and surrounding habitats. Such data are needed to choose appropriate sites for offshore wind energy, monitor changes relative to baseline conditions, and develop mitigation strategies. In this talk, I will summarize several ongoing and planned projects to understand seabird habitat use in the New York Bight and beyond to predict and monitor effects of offshore wind energy development and other emerging concerns. Over the long term, these data will help us understand seabird biology, manage fisheries, and improve ecosystem health for both humans and wildlife.
Juliet Lamb is a Marine Scientist with The Nature Conservancy. Her research links movement and migratory patterns of seabirds with diets, population dynamics, individual health, and disease exposure in marine and terrestrial environments. She has conducted research on a wide variety of seabirds species in the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf of Maine, New York Bight, North Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean, and has studied other birds and wildlife in various locations across the United States, Central and South America, and Europe. She holds an A.B. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard University, a M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology from Clemson University.Upcoming Programs:
This free program is at Quogue Wildlife Refuge, 3 Old Country Road, Quogue.
All are welcome. Refreshments.
There is no January Meeting
Have a Happy New Year & We'll
See you in February