APALACHICOLA NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE HOSTS LECTURE

~Learn about the Migratory Songbirds of St. George Island ~

APALACHICOLA- Thursday, May 7, 2:00-3:00pm, Armando Aispuro and Melanie Mancuso will speak about their studies of migratory songbirds that use St. George Island, Florida, as a stopover on their migration north. Migration is an energy intensive process for birds crossing the Gulf of Mexico from the Neotropics. St. George Island offers the first landfall for a wide diversity of birds to rest and refuel. Aispuro and Mancuso are measuring the importance of this coastal barrier island to the persistence of these sensitive avian populations, and to gauge how climate change may disrupt this yearly cycle. 

Melanie Mancuso is from New Orleans and received her B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of New Orleans in 2009.  She has worked on various research projects across the United States with a range of organisms including threatened and endangered species.  Melanie is currently a student at Delaware State University pursuing a M. S. degree in the Natural Resources program.  Her research involves the study of barrier island ecosystems as a vital resource for migrating avian species and the potential effects of global climate change.  Her research is being conducted at Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve, Florida.  She is advised by Dr. Christopher Heckscher.  Melanie joined ECSC in 2015. 

Armando Aispuro received his BS in Wildlife from Humboldt State University. Since then, he has worked in tropical America and Asia, and the US studying various aspects of avian ecology, evolution, and conservation. He will be investigating barrier islands as resources for migrating birds at Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Aispuro and Mancuso are supported by the Environmental Cooperative Science Center, a part of NOAA’s Educational Partnership Program whose mission is to train the next generation of scientists and increase our understanding of coastal systems.

WHAT:          Migratory Songbirds of St George Island Lecture

WHEN:          May 7, 2015 2:00-3:00 p.m.
                       

WHERE:       Apalachicola National Research Reserve Nature Center
                        108 Island Dr.
                        Eastpoint, FL 32328

For more information contact Megan Lamb, 850-670-7709, email Megan.Lamb@dep.state.fl.us

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