This is the Audubon Society of Central Arkansas's November monthly meeting.

Register in advance for this meeting---https://audubon.zoom.us/meeting/register/8MTDCpznQn2tZWGvH7etvw

Leah studies the effects of shade-growing coffee on the community composition, body condition, and mixed-species flocking behavior of birds that live on or near coffee farms. As part of this work, she works with farmers and forest managers in Gualaca District, Chiriquí, Panamá alongside the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. She specifically wants to understand how the habitat context surrounding farms mediates the positive effects of sustainable farm practices in regard to bird condition and behavior.

Leah grew up in Texarkana, on the Arkansas side, then pursued her bachelor's degrees in Biology and Creative Writing at Hendrix College in Conway. After graduating in May of 2020, she worked several jobs in Central Arkansas before working on the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow captive-breeding program at White Oak Conservation in Florida. Then, she got her M.S. in Biology from the University of Northern Colorado where she studied the effects of landscape composition and configuration on Western Meadowlarks. She is now pursuing her PhD at Cornell University, and her dissertation, under the guidance of Dr. Amanda Rodewald, focuses on bird conservation in working landscapes. She is still an annual participant in the Conway CBC.

Photo: Wilson's Warbler; George Scott/APA