An illustrated lecture by Chris Elphick, Associate Professor in the Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UConn.
Sunday, July 14th. Time: 4 p.m. Place: Union Chapel.
HLFM’s 2013 Smith Vaughan Lecture on a Natural History Subject. Reception at HLFM to follow.
Sea-levels are rising, and are projected to continue to do so throughout the rest of this century. This change has repercussions for wildlife as well as people. Since 2002, Chris Elphick and his colleagues have been studying the birds that live in coastal marshes and the habitat they use. His talk will describe the biology of these birds, how their lives are influenced by the ebb and flow of the tides, and how sea-level rise is expected to affect them.
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Chris Elphick
Chris Elphick
Chris Elphick’s work focuses on the conservation ecology of birds, especially in wetlands and agricultural settings. He earned his PhD from the University of Nevada – Reno, for his work on the ecology and conservation of wetland birds in California’s rice fields. More recently, he has worked on the population dynamics and management of several species of endangered waterbirds, and on the ecology and conservation of saltmarsh birds.
He has published research articles in journals such as the Auk, Biological Conservation, Conservation Biology, Journal of Applied Ecology, and Science. Book length projects include the Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior, the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Nevada, and the Ecology and Conservation of Birds in Rice Fields: A Global Review. For his work on saltmarsh sparrows, he was awarded a National Investigators Award for contributions toward bird conservation by Partners in Flight.
