Project: Kittiwake Foraging, Microclimate & Reproductive Success
Faculty: Morgan Benowitz-Fredericks
Student: Mae Lacey
DP&S Liaison: Janine Glathar
Date: Fall 2017
Prof. Morgan Benowitz-Fredericks and her student researcher, Mae Lacey, spent summer 2017 researching the foraging and reproductive habits of Kittiwake birds nesting in a research tower on Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska. Prof. Benowitz-Fredericks contacted DPS with an interest in visualizing GPX (or ‘tracking’ data) she collected to show the foraging patterns of birds in her study. By comparing the distance and duration of foraging trips for the Kittiwake birds in the study, Prof. Benowitz-Frecericks hopes to learn more about the impact of climate change on this species of birds. Her research student Mae Lacy is doing a senior honors thesis on the microclimates & reproductive success of Kittiwakes at the research station, based on their different nesting locations on the tower. DPS is helping her visualize the data to determine whether the microclimate associated with each bird’s nesting location on the tower might impact its reproductive success.