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Christopher Green

Christopher Green

  • Ecological Consulting
  • Science Communication
  • Social Media
  • Video

Moving On

June 23, 2020 by Christopher Green

Well, it’s official. My term of employment with Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary has come to an end in the midst of the economic fall-out of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Fortunately, I have plenty of energy and experience for my next work!

I am launching an ecological consulting concern of my own. There is a need, and I aim to meet it!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Ecological Consulting

Welcome

April 29, 2020 by Christopher Green

Thank you for visiting! I am currently collecting my Science Communication work with Cape Cod National Seashore from 2014 through 2017. I will move on to other projects after I finish this effort.

Filed Under: News

Coastal Stewardship and Climate Change: Preserving Cultural Resources

November 11, 2017 by Christopher Green

The final episode of the Coastal Stewardship and Climate Change video series I produced for Cape Cod National Seashore as the Science Communication Biotech was titled Preserving Cultural Resources. You can watch the video on Vimeo if you have received a password from me. I apologize for the inconvenience. My appointment ended before the video received approval, and I am not able to share it unless it is for the purpose of showing my work to a prospective employer.

Filed Under: CACO NRMS, Science Communication, Video Tagged With: climate change, video

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

October 18, 2017 by Christopher Green

What goes up, must come down. Unfortunately, many of the balloons we release in celebration or just by mistake end up…

Posted by Cape Cod National Seashore on Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Filed Under: CACO NRMS, Science Communication, Social Media Tagged With: CACO, marine debris, marine plastic

Coastal Stewardship and Climate Change: Protecting Shorebirds

November 15, 2016 by Christopher Green

I produced this episode of the Coastal Stewardship and Climate Change video series for Cape Cod National Seashore as the Science Communication Biotech. You can watch the video on Vimeo if you have received a password from me. I apologize for the inconvenience. My appointment ended before the video received approval, and I am not able to share it unless it is for the purpose of showing my work to a prospective employer.

Filed Under: CACO NRMS, Science Communication, Video Tagged With: climate change, shorebirds, video

Researching Roseate Terns

September 22, 2016 by Christopher Green

Dr. Jeff Spendelow, a Research Wildlife Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, has been studying Roseate Terns for almost 40 years. For the last ten summers, he has followed the terns to Cape Cod and become a fixture on our beaches and at our research lab in North Truro. You might say he has become migratory, much like the birds he studies.

A man looks through a scope at birds on a beach.

The Northeastern U.S. Roseate Tern breeding population entered a steep decline in the late 19th century, hunted for the hat trade. With protection introduced by the Migratory Bird Act Treaty, the population rebounded in the 1930s for a time before declining once again following the 1950s.

In 1987, under pressure from predation, disturbance, and habitat loss, the Roseate Tern was listed as Endangered in the northeastern U.S. and Threatened in southern states as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Today, Dr. Spendelow estimates there are 8,000-9,000 Roseate Terns that breed from the south shore of Long Island, New York north to Nova Scotia and Quebec, Canada.

In 2011, researchers began employing ‘plastic field-readable’ (PFR) color bands on Roseate Tern adults and chicks at several nesting sites spanning the breeding range. The PFR color bands are a major improvement over previous bands as they can be read quickly at a distance up to 50 meters.

With the increased ease of bird identification, PFR color bands have enabled the study of staging site use by Roseate Terns as a function of their colony site of origin, age, breeding status, and whether or not they are providing post-fledging care to a hatch year (HY) bird. (Click here to learn more about Age Codes for birds)

Staging sites are where the birds prepare for their first migration. In the case of the Roseate Terns, this means flying to the north coast of South America. Young Roseate Terns need their parents’ help to get enough food to pack on the fat reserves necessary for the journey and to learn how to feed themselves.

Graduate students from Virginia Tech and State University of New York College of Environmental School of Forestry have assisted Spendelow with his research at Cape Cod National Seashore. In collaboration with the Mass Audubon Coastal Waterbirds Program, and with funding from the National Park Service, the research has shown that Cape Cod is a critical staging area for Roseate Terns.

From mid-July through early October, post-breeding adults and first-year Roseate Terns from the entire nesting range of the endangered NW Atlantic breeding population use Cape Cod to stage for migration. Recent results have shown that non-breeding adults (and failed breeders) also stage on Cape Cod. The non-breeding birds come north for 2-3 months to stage on Cape Cod prior to the arrival of the post-breeding and first-year birds. 

Spendelow’s research has shown that Cape Cod National Seashore beaches and nearby waters provide critical resources to a larger proportion of the entire population for a longer time than previously thought. This finding has led to a new research question about whether individual Roseate Terns continue to use the same or new staging sites as they mature and become breeding adults.

As September passes by and summer turns to autumn, there are fewer and fewer Roseate Terns left on Cape Cod. After a long field season, Jeff Spendelow is gone as well, having returned to his winter home. Cape Cod National Seashore relies on dedicated scientists like Jeff to help study the great range of our natural resources, and we look forward to his return next summer along with the terns.

This piece was originally published on the Cape Cod National Seashore National Resource Management and Science News blog. Read original post here >

Filed Under: CACO NRMS, Science Communication Tagged With: birds, research

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Copyright © 2021 Christopher Green

  • Ecological Consulting
  • Science Communication
  • Social Media
  • Video