Jess Hightower

New Western research reveals how rainfall shapes bird populations New study shows rainfall patterns play a powerful role in shaping bird populations and which species are most vulnerable as precipitation becomes more erratic.

@westernu.ca did a write up on our new paper! Forgive me for being proud of this contribution. ☺️
news.westernu.ca/2026/03/rain...

#ornithology #birds #meta-analysis #rain

You’d almost never know they were in the forest, but Siamese Fireback really did seem to love the camera (cam trap)🤣#Cambodia

Alex Pretti, the man killed by federal agents today in Minneapolis, appears to have been a registered nurse, an athlete, a son and a brother, with ties to Colorado and Wisconsin.

Here is a photo he used for several accounts.

😮

Job Opportunities | .

The Wyoming Game & Fish Dept. is hiring two Black Rosy-Finch technicians to conduct alpine surveys in Wyoming's high elevation mountains during June 1st to Aug 31st 2026: www.governmentjobs.com/careers/wyom.... Spread the word!

Multitaxa functional diversity increases the resilience of biological natural capital in the Amazon This study presents a trait-based framework integrating functional diversity into biological natural capital accounting, capturing both ecosystem resilience and species uniqueness across multiple tax...

Very happy to share this new paper is out! 🚀

Using multitaxa trait-based data, we introduce new indicators that capture ecosystem resilience and the critical role of functionally unique species for sustaining ecosystem functioning.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We are recruiting several PhD students. If you are interested in conservation conflicts, population ecology, quantitative ecology, or biodiversity, check these projects out (links in the thread, feel free to reach out):

Florida Strategic Initiatives Director The Florida Strategic Initiatives Director is an exciting new role that will coordinate PERC’s market-based conservation work in Florida to advance meaningful conservation outcomes through improvement...

We are expanding into Florida, and we are hiring! www.perc.org/careers/flor...

Oooh, I need to get one as well!

Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling This textbook provides a foundation for modern applied ecology. It follows a rapidly changing field with updates of concepts, methods, and code.

Really happy to share that the Second Edition of our book, "Spatial Ecology and Conservation Modeling", is now out and available online!

We provide a foundation for applied spatial ecology with a focus on learning-by-doing.

@camzoology.bsky.social @conservation.cam.ac.uk

📣Please share: We are looking for a field assistant to join our team in studying #ruffs on coastal meadows at Botnian Bay in Finland. The job will provide fantastic insights into lekking behaviour and provide essential skills in field ornithology. Details here www.bi.mpg.de/2790786/2512...

And maybe some mouse deer? 😄

Thinking I need to submit a mouse deer photo for cover now.

No one told the bat the robin was suppose to be their sidekick, not side dish.

Bat vs. Robin—Scientists Capture Real-Life Audio of Midair Hunt Scientists suspected that Europe’s largest bats snack on migrating songbirds when they can, but a stunning newly published observation proves it

🤯 Wild shit here. They put biologgers on greater noctule bats and found them pursuing, capturing, and eating birds in-flight. The recording of a European Robin getting blasted and snacked on is nuts.

Sci Am story: www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...

Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?

I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.

but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"

new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Thanks, it seems like a pretty relevant conference.

Call for Abstracts Call for oral and poster abstracts for WBF2026 More than 90 sessions, in 10 thematic tracks will bring together international researchers, artists, practitioners, companies and policy makers from a va...

I know this is a newer conference, but has anyone been to an earlier one or planning to go next year? worldbiodiversityforum.org/call-for-abs...

Genomic demography predicts community dynamics in a temperate montane forest Species population sizes fluctuate over time, and these temporal dynamics play a key role in governing the maintenance of biodiversity. Although modeling approaches have been developed to characterize...

This looks to be a fundamental theoretical advance by @jpodwyer.bsky.social et al. Using linkage disequlibrium-based Ne to back out σ² and then predict fluctuation sizes from a single temporal snapshot is a real advance for broad application 🧪🌐https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu6396

Using automated acoustic monitoring, citizen science, and centuries of ornithological research and understanding to quantify ecological integrity at scale.

The BirdsPlus Index, a novel method for assessing site-level conservation values.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our Global Wildfire Collective Spatial Data Gateway is here! Intended for sharing wildfire-related data, maps, models, tools, and publications.

Explore now!
globalwildfirecollective.databasin.org

#GlobalWildfireCollective #ConsBio #DataBasin #FireData #WildfireData #Wildfire #Fire #FireResearch

Does this count? 😅

Ranchers are using ‘virtual fencing’ to move their cattle — and help save prairies Virtual fencing uses GPS collars, sounds and electrical cues to move cattle across a landscape. Along with saving ranchers time, researchers say this new technology can help protect, and create, wildl...

I've been laying low, getting started at @westernu.ca but time to emerge from under the rock...
Here is a nice article about virtual fencing for cattle that includes our efforts to find conservation solutions for grassland birds on private lands.
www.kcur.org/environment-...

Do we have a word yet for “fear of closing tabs”?

Indigenous Territories can safeguard human health depending on the landscape structure and legal status - Communications Earth & Environment Indigenous territory extent in the Amazon biome can reduce the incidence of fire-related and zoonotic/vector-borne diseases, but only in certain contexts, according to an analysis of disease incidence...

🌳🦟Indigenous territory extent in the Amazon biome can reduce the incidence of fire-related and zoonotic/vector-borne diseases in humans.

👉Read more here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...

A very cool story!

NYT coverage of Gaza was the last straw for me. I canceled my subscription. Infuriating that this is their normal approach to covering any news out of Gaza.

Conceptual overview of the deepSSF neural network used to predict animal movement.

📖Published📖

Forrest et al. present deepSSF, an approach to fit and predict animal movement data using deep learning 🐃 🌍 🧪 Read the full article here 👇

buff.ly/BWQ3Oni

Ok I like it, Picasso.

Need a brand name? Pick a word and remove a vowel (or two). So should I call my pretend business Ecolgy, Eclogy, Eclgy, Wld, Brds, Natr, Envro, BDvy?