Migration Monitoring in the Era of Big Data

With Andrew Farnsworth, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Tuesday, September 21^st at 7PM (ET)

Register here for this free virtual event

As part of the Wild Bird Fund’s Bird-Saver Campaign, we’re excited to offer a webinar by the renowned migration expert, Dr. Andrew Farnsworth.  Join us as we draw back the curtain on what seems like magic and learn about the hidden lives of birds and how we can use the new technology to help them.

A birder since he was 5 years old, Dr. Farnsworth has combined his passions for birds and technology to create unique tools to better understand avian behavior.  Since 1970, the North American bird population has decreased by almost 3 billion birds.  To understand why that is, and figure out how to stem the loss, we need to study bird populations. That is not easy to do.  Birds live on the wing.

“Some people see technology as the end of all things natural, but there’s a whole other side to it that gives us access to a world that we would otherwise not have seen”

Dr. Farnsworth has played key roles in the development of BirdCast, which uses radar to track migrating birds and predict times of heavy avian travel, and eBird, which collects and analyzes data provided by citizen scientist birders worldwide.  He has studied the effects of nocturnal light, such as the Tribute in Light, on migrating birds, as well as the faint “flight calls” vocalized by birds as they travel, toward understanding their function.  In all these different ways, Dr. Farnsworth has used technology to gather information that can be used toward protecting avian populations.

Andrew Farnsworth is a Senior Research Associate, Center for Avian Population Studies, at Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Andrew began birding at age 5 and quickly developed his long-standing fascinations with bird migration. His current research efforts focus on applying remote sensing technology to study bird movements including weather surveillance radar, audio and video recording and monitoring tools, citizen science datasets, and machine learning techniques. Andrew received his BS in Natural Resources from Cornell, MS in Zoology from Clemson University, and PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University. He lives in Manhattan with his wife Patricia Ryan and two daughters Aja and Elle.

Although there is no charge to attend, donations via WBF Donations support our work.

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This live event is limited to 1,000 attendees but a recording will be available for replay.

This program is brought to you by the Wild Bird Fund Bird-Saver Campaign