Conservation Science

Technology is often accused of separating us from nature. Tavis Forrester’s eMammal project puts high-tech “camera traps” into the hands of volunteer citizen scientists, allowing them to connect with animals and behaviors usually hidden from view. The result is a blending of technology and nature that Forrester says is “magical in its ability to fire up kids and adults alike" with the excitement of scientific discovery.

The burst of spring is breathtaking— the tree canopy fills in, birds reappear, and plants flower. But spring isn’t the only season that brings changes to the plants and animals around us. Summer, fall, and winter all have their own special impacts on plants and animals, signaling when it is time to reproduce, hibernate or even die.

Mass Audubon has appointed Becky Cushing to succeed René Laubach as Berkshire Sanctuaries Director. She will oversee Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox, as well as Canoe Meadows and Lime Kiln wildlife sanctuaries in Pittsfield and Sheffield, respectively. Cushing, 30, worked previously for Mass Audubon on Cape Cod and the South Coast, and returns to the respected conservation organization after working for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Vermont since 2013. On May 20, she will move into the position overseen for 29 years by Laubach, who retires at the end of this month.

Biologists studying the endangered California condor have launched a new web site to enlist the help of citizen scientists in research aimed at reducing lead poisoning, the primary threat to condors in the wild.

They're on the move, scrambling on paws and wings to find refuge from a planetary catastrophe. No, I'm not talking about the computer-generated birds and beasts fleeing the flood in the blockbuster movie Noah. As a scientist, I see many wonderful wildlife species in the real world -- from sea turtles whose nesting beaches are being flooded by rising seas to polar bears dying as sea ice vanishes -- struggling to survive man-made climate change.

“The eastern border of the range of mountain lions is moving progressively more and more east, and it’s only a matter of time until it reaches all the way to the East Coast,” said Noah Charney, a wildlife ecologist and animal tracking expert who has worked with the state Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program for the past seven years. “I sort of suspect that all of a sudden one day we’re going to know there are mountain lions here. There’s going to be no question. And it might happen really fast.

Amy Rogers has launched a crowdfunding campaign to support Forest for a Living, which seeks to pilot the first cost-efficient solution to deforestation and farmer exploitation in the tropics.