SIB Presents: The Secret and Swampy Lives of Wood Storks

Date: Tuesday July 12, 2022
Registration starts 7:00pm. Program starts 7:30pm
Location: Live Oak Hall, Lake House, Seabrook Island, SC
Program Fee: Members $0, Guests $5.00
Attendance: Limited to 100 members

There is no longer a mask requirement at the Seabrook Island Lake House, although you are welcome to wear one if you choose. Social distancing is recommended but also is not required. SIB will provide wine or bottled water at this event but feel free to bring your own beverage or snack of choice.

If you are not a 2022 SIB Member,
you can first join/renew for $10/year

Emerging technologies are providing windows into many unknown aspects of Wood Stork behavior and population dynamics. Dr. Kristina Ramstad, Associate Professor, Dept. of Biology & Geology at the University of South Carolina, will discuss research she and her students are doing at their USC Aiken lab – drones to estimate storks’ hatching success; genomics techniques to assess migratory behavior, mating system and population structure in storks. They’re also working to determine if Wood Storks are promiscuous or nest parasites, how populations are defined spatially, and what makes storks stay put versus migrate to new nesting colony locations. Outcomes of their work will inform conservation and management of storks, particularly under current climate change scenarios.

 The program is limited to 100 SIB members. SIPOA COVID protocol will be followed.

Questions? Email us at: SeabrookIslandBirders@gmail.com 

Meet the speaker: Kristina Ramstad Associate Professor, Vertebrate Biology Department of Biology & Geology University of South Carolina Aiken

Kristina is originally from Washington State and studied sockeye salmon in Alaska for both her MSc (University of Washington) and PhD (University of Montana) research. Her postdoc work took her to New Zealand, where she spent eight years studying conservation genetics of kiwi before returning to the States and taking up her current role at USCA.  Her work draws on genomic sequencing techniques and field based ecological studies to address fundamental questions in evolution, ecology and demography of at-risk species. Her current obsession is the wading birds of the steamy and mysterious swamps of the US South.