The conservation science program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology conducts original research on conservation related topics and provides science support for conservation planning initiatives. We work through citizen science participation in large-scale research as well as through numerous partnerships with agencies and organizations throughout the U.S. and internationally.

In the face of serious declines in many bird populations and degradation of wildlife habitats throughout North America, a new paradigm in bird conservation has focused on proactive strategies to sustain populations of still-common species before they reach threatened or endangered status. This mission of "keeping common birds common" is ultimately far less costly to government and society and benefits a wider range of wildlife resources than traditional, regulatory-based endangered species conservation programs. To be successful, this approach requires (1) a strong scientific foundation, (2) partnerships between scientists and decision makers, including all countries which are bird migration stopover locations, and (3) an informed and involved public.

The Conservation Science Program at Cornell Lab of Ornithology has taken a lead role in the bird conservation initiative Partners in Flight (PIF), an international consortium of government, academic, industry, and private organizations. Specifically, Ken Rosenberg serves as chair of PIF Science Committee, facilitating conservation initiatives and projects, and producing a series of bird conservation plans for North America (see http://www.partnersinflight.org). Our unit provides scientific leadership to assist conservation initiatives in New York and other northeastern states, as well as national and international (Canada, Cuba, and Mexico) level programs. To address specific research needs identified in the conservation planning process, we developed and administer several citizen-science projects designed to involve the lay public in scientific study. Specifically, our Birds in Forested Landscapes Project involves over 1,000 volunteer participants at over 3,000 sites studying the effects of habitat fragmentation and pollution on forest-breeding birds. This work resulted in several management guidelines publications for tanagers, thrushes and other Forest-interior Birds, aimed at private and public land-owners. Our training workshops and production of outreach materials and monitoring tools are leveraging conservation capacity throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

The science-based conservation plans that we and others within Partners in Flight have produced have helped to spur a huge change in the conservation infrastructure of the U.S., including increased attention and funding for non-game bird species within public agencies, unprecedented partnerships among previously adversarial groups such as conservation organizations and the forest products industry, and greatly increased awareness of bird conservation issues among the academic community and the general public. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology`s conservation program can trace its impact directly through the scientific credibility of these activities, which have resulted in policy changes, numerous new partnerships, and ultimately in thousands of acres of bird habitat conserved. Our citizen-science research projects have informed and enlightened hundreds of public participants in helping to resolve important bird conservation issues -- among the tens of thousands of participants affected by the Lab of Ornithology`s more general citizen-science program. In the past several years we have expanded these impacts to Mexico, Cuba, and elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Public Involvement in Science-Based Conservation