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

Register in advance for this meeting---https://audubon.zoom.us/meeting/register/26UI-Y1xTGqUiil6vTsHJg

Nest box programs helped Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) recover from last-century population declines due to invasive species, DDT, and habitat loss. But how will bluebirds fare this century under climate change? Dr. Virginie Rolland, who took over a trail of 150 nest boxes established in 2003 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, has been exploring this question from various angles: morphology, demography, phenology, and more recently physiology. Bluebirds seem to be well adapted to warm climates and resilient to extremes but may be more challenged as new record conditions become the norm.

Dr. Virginie Rolland studied the population dynamics of four albatross species in the context of fisheries and climate change for her PhD, which she received in 2008 from University of Paris VI. She then completed a postdoc on the Northern Bobwhite’s (Colinus virginianus) population dynamics at University of Florida, before starting as an Assistant Professor at Arkansas State University in 2011. Now Full Professor, Dr. Rolland has mentored numerous graduate and undergraduate students, several of whom received research funding from the Arkansas Audubon Society Trust.

Photo: Mike Cullivan/APA