Photo: Kirtland’s Warbler, Ian McDonald/Audubon Photography Awards
When: Sunday, September 24, 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Where: National Wildlife Federation Building, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive, Reston, VA 20190
Fee: FREE
Nathan Cooper
Join us on Sunday afternoon for our quarterly live Audubon Afternoon at the National Wildlife Federation Building, 11100 Wildlife Center Drive in Reston.
We’ll gather informally starting at 2:30 so you have an opportunity to reconnect with everyone. We welcome any food and drink you would like to share with everyone during the informal portion of the program. At 3:00 PM, we’ll have a presentation by the Smithsonian’s Nathan Cooper. He will discuss his research on North America’s rarest songbird, the Kirtland’s Warbler. Over the past few decades, Kirtland’s Warblers have undergone a remarkable recovery, from just 167 males in the world in 1987 to more than 2,200 males today. In addition to having a compelling conservation story, its small population size and restricted breeding and winter ranges provide an opportunity to learn more about the fascinating and interconnected annual cycles of songbirds. Cooper will take us on a journey through the annual cycle of the Kirtland’s Warbler and share what we have learned from this rare species.
Nathan Cooper is a behavioral ecologist and conservation biologist. He studies how migratory birds interact with each other and their environments throughout the annual cycle. He is primarily focused on the ecology and conservation of the Kirtland's Warbler, and is currently involved in several science- and conservation-based projects with this recently delisted species. Cooper earned a B.S. in Fisheries and Wildlife from Michigan State University, an M.S. in Biology from Portland State University, and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University. He first joined the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center as a Ph.D. student in 2008, and was awarded both Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships there, before being promoted to Research Ecologist in 2020.
Registration is not required, please bring friends, family, neighbors, etc!