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Developing a Motus Wildlife Tracking Network across Texas to Study Animal Movement
Webinar Description:
Every year, millions of birds make incredible journeys, traveling north to their breeding grounds and south to their wintering grounds. Migration is one of nature’s most spectacular phenomena, but along the way, birds face countless challenges. Knowing when and where they encounter those challenges is critical for understanding where conservation action is needed. However, for the smallest birds, it has traditionally been difficult to track these journeys in detail because most tracking devices are simply too heavy for them to carry. Recent advances in automated radio telemetry are helping change that. The Motus Wildlife Tracking System is a growing collaborative network of automated telemetry stations that allows researchers to track animal movements across a wide range of species. In this webinar, we will highlight a collaborative project expanding the Motus network across Texas and explore how this growing network can help us better understand migratory wildlife and inform conservation efforts.
Bio:
Jessie Reese is a Research Scientist at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, where she leads the Migratory Ecology program. For the past 15 years she’s studied birds and their habitats in a variety of far-flung places, from Virginia swamps and Yosemite meadows to Pacific islands and Amazon jungles. She earned an M.S. in Biology from Virginia Commonwealth University, where she studied migratory connectivity in the Prothonotary Warbler. She joined Bird Conservancy in 2020, where she’s worked in a variety of roles focused on grassland bird conservation.