SCGIS Webinar: Mapping Bird Migrations and Threats Across the Western Hemisphere

Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6ozOG5KERBOem9ZhLX3AFA

Date/time: Thursday, April 8 at 10am PT

Presenters: Erika Knight and Lotem Taylor, GIS/Data Analysts at Audubon

Description: Audubon’s Migratory Bird Initiative brings together spatial information for over 500 species of migratory birds to engage people in the joy of migration and identify places that birds need so we can protect them for future generations. We create animated maps that summarize the migration journey of each species across the year, bringing together information gathered by numerous researchers and institutions tracking individual birds with locating devices. In addition, we map connections between the places birds travel through, as well as the threats they face over the course of the year. We carefully apply principles of cartography to ensure maps are engaging and understandable, while generating maps through automated processes that allow us to create and update hundreds at a time. As part of the Migratory Bird Conservation Platform, these maps will engage audiences around both hemispheric and local bird migration and the development pressures bird face along their annual journey. The insights gained through the Conservation Platform can be used to inform conservation and drive actions for positive change.

Bios:

Erika Knight: As a GIS/Data Analyst for Audubon’s Migratory Bird Initiative, Erika Knight analyzes, synthesizes, and visualizes migration pathways and patterns of bird distribution throughout the annual cycle, creates animated maps, and contributes to interactive web tools. Erika has been with Audubon since 2015, and prior to joining the Migratory Bird Initiative she worked for Audubon Alaska where she synthesized spatial ecological data for the Ecological Atlas of the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas and an assessment of ecological hotspots in the Arctic seas, among other projects.

Lotem Taylor: As a GIS & Data Analyst for Audubon, Lotem Taylor leads spatial analyses for both the Migratory Bird Initiative and onservation Science teams. Lotem’s work has focused on building climate suitability models and mapping migration patterns for hundreds of bird species. She enjoys working in R and developing automated workflows to manage and analyze large datasets spanning the Western Hemisphere.  

CBI presents this webinar in partnership with the Society for Conservation GIS (SCGIS). To learn more about this organization, please visit https://www.scgis.org/.