The notion of hundreds of millions, if not billions, of migratory birds passing in and out of broad geographic areas is of considerable public and ecological interest – and of conservation concern. Capturing and quantify these large-scale movements has remained a principle challenge. Kyle Horton, Cornell Lab of Ornithology Postdoctoral Fellow, will discuss how he uses weather surveillance radar to quantify and forecast migratory movements across the United States.

Kyle Horton received his B.S. in Biology from Canisius College in 2011, M.S. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Delaware in 2013, and Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Oklahoma in 2017. He is currently a Rose Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. His work on migratory birds employs a range of tools and approaches, including the use of radar, acoustics, and citizen science data. He is currently working on understanding avian flight strategies, long-term phenological change, population estimates, the impact of artificial light, and migration forecasting.