Dr. Steven Latta, the Director of Conservation and Field Research at the National Aviary, is working in FSF’s woodlands to understand the impacts of our uneven-age forest structure on songbirds. Now in year two of the three-year project, his presentation will summarize the work to date and share preliminary observations of how FSF’s forestry affects forest bird diversity and nesting habitat.

For more than 25 years, Dr. Latta has worked in the Caribbean islands and Latin America where his research has focused on the winter ecology of migratory birds, and understanding how migrant and resident species respond to natural and anthropogenic changes to their habitat. His other research includes documenting the survival of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in Louisiana.A native of Michigan, Dr. Latta was educated at Kalamazoo College (B.A.), University of Michigan (M.S.), and University of Missouri-Columbia (Ph.D. in Avian Ecology). After graduating in 2000, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Missouri-St. Louis where he studied with Dr. Robert Ricklefs the evolution and diversification of avian malaria across Caribbean islands. He then served for four years as the Director of the Latin American Program at Point Reyes Bird Observatory in California, where he developed long-term monitoring programs in many countries, and trained hundreds of locally-based biologists and naturalists in standardized bird monitoring techniques. Dr. Latta joined the National Aviary team in 2006. 

Dr. Latta has worked in the Caribbean islands and Latin America for more than 25 years where his research has focused on the winter ecology of migratory birds, and understanding how migrant and resident species respond to natural and anthropogenic changes to their habitat. His other work has focused on the ecology and conservation of threatened endemics, bird use of riparian areas, the value of early-successional and agricultural habitats for birds, and population dynamics in high Andean habitats in Ecuador.

Dr. Latta’s current research uses the Louisiana Waterthrush as a model species to study population dynamics and carry-over effects on both the temperate breeding and Neotropical overwintering grounds. He is also evaluating how the degradation of streams leads to population reductions in this riparian-obligate species, with results helping to understand the environmental consequences of important water quality management issues including acid precipitation control, acid mine drainage, and the use of hydraulic fracturing to access natural gas deposits. Dr. Latta’s research also includes documenting the survival of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in Louisiana.