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, Cornell Chronicle

On April 8, the shadow of a total solar eclipse will race across North America. At the same time, researchers from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and partners will be hurrying to measure the impact of daytime darkness on the movements of birds, bats and insects – flying creatures that are very attuned to changes in light levels. 

, Cornell Chronicle

While world public health agencies are focused on how to react to the next pandemic once it has started, a new plan proposes using ecological perspectives to prevent disease outbreaks before they happen, according to a paper published March 26 in Nature Communications.

, World Economic Forum

"Whether it’s a murmuration of starlings, herds of wildebeest crossing the plains of Africa, or shoals of salmon leaping up a cascading river, the mass migrations of animals, birds and fish are some of the most spectacular events in the natural world. But human activity and other pressures are pushing many of these creatures towards oblivion."

, Study Finds

“Getting humanity to work collaboratively at a global scale underpins most of the existential challenges we face, from climate change and environmental pollution to biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse—this at a time when earnest collaboration even at local scales often seems elusive,” notes Cornell Professor of Wildlife Health & Health Policy Steven A. Osofsky, lead author of the study. “However, if we can actually stop hunting, eating, and trading bats, stay out of their caves, keep livestock away from areas where bats are concentrated, and if we can stop deforesting, degrading (or even start restoring) their natural habitats, we can indisputably lower the chances of another pandemic.”

, Grist

“Conservation of migratory species is extremely difficult because they cross nations, continents, even hemispheres. That requires a lot of coordination among different countries, and thinking across geopolitical boundaries,” says Amanda Rodewald, director of the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Lab of Ornithology.

, PBS NewsHour

Amanda Rodewald, senior director of the Center for Avian Population Studies at the Lab of Ornithology, says “There’s growing recognition that many of the same steps we need to take to protect migratory species, as well as biodiversity more generally — those are the same steps we need to take to protect human health and well-being.”

, Cornell Chronicle

More than 80% of global land area needed to maintain human well-being and meet biodiversity targets is unprotected, according to a new study led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

, Cornell Chronicle

A study that used photos taken by participants to spark conversation reveals firsthand accounts of how climate change, land use and dams on the Mekong River are threatening the future of the communities dependent on those ecosystems.

, The New Yorker

Andrew Farnsworth, a senior research associate at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, helped to explain the hurricane-flamingo connection. As a five-year-old, the article explains, he became fascinated by the movements of birds; “when he started work as a researcher, he discovered historical records of epic avian journeys.”

, The New York Times

Cornell has a $9.9 million grant from the Bezos Earth Fund for the development of low-cost virtual fencing last April. Virtual fencing is a potential solution to the traditional barbed wire fences used in the American west.