Conservation Science

When you look at your yard, you probably see some grass, a few flowers, maybe a bird or two. Susannah Lerman, 2010 Fellow and 2011 Leadership Grant recipient, sees a huge opportunity for wildlife habitat with little or no investment. Lerman began her career wanting to work with species in remote areas, but she soon realized that cities offer the best opportunities for educating people about nature. Now she finds ways to increase citizen participation in increasing wildlife habitat and reconnect people with nature, particularly in urban areas.

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.

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.

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.