Great Hollow Research Presented at American Ornithological Society Conference

Last week, Great Hollow’s executive director Chad Seewagen had the privilege of representing Great Hollow at the joint conference of the American Ornithological Society and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists in London, Ontario, Canada. Nearly 1,000 ornithologists from several countries flocked to the conference to network, forge new collaborations, and hear about the latest and greatest research on bird ecology, behavior, physiology, and conservation. London is also home to Western University, where Dr. Seewagen attended graduate school in the early 2000s, so it was great to reunite with many familiar faces from the university and Canada’s community of ornithologists. Dr. Seewagen gave a talk in the conference’s Community Ecology session regarding Great Hollow’s research on the value of native vs. non-native plants as food resources for birds. He also presented a poster on research led by Great Hollow’s post-doctoral fellow Dr. Wales Carter regarding the effects of diet composition on the energetic condition of birds during fall migration. Many new connections were made and even more ideas for collaborative research projects were born — hallmarks of a productive and successful academic conference!