Research
The WEB lab conducts research in applied wildlife ecology and conservation biology, with birds as the primary study system and a particular emphasis on understanding how human activities and environmental change influence wildlife populations and communities. Our research examines the effects of forestry, agricultural practices, insecticides, recreation, habitat alteration, and other forms of environmental disturbance on birds, while also investigating the ecological mechanisms underlying those responses. We use a range of approaches, including population and community ecology, habitat and resource-use studies, diet analysis, radio telemetry, MOTUS tracking, and other field-based techniques to understand how birds use landscapes, move through them, acquire resources, reproduce, and respond to environmental change.
A defining feature of the lab is its position at the interface of basic ecology and applied conservation. Although we are interested in ecological mechanisms, we generally pursue those questions because they have direct implications for conservation and natural-resource management. Much of our work focuses on declining or vulnerable species, including aerial insectivores such as Chimney Swifts, Bank Swallows, and Barn Swallows, as well as Bobolinks and other grassland and forest birds. Across these projects, the overarching goal is to understand how birds respond to changing landscapes, why those responses occur, and how that knowledge can be translated into better conservation, forestry, land-use, and wildlife-management decisions.