The Missouri River Bird Observatory (MRBO) has been tracking populations of native grassland-obligate birds in Missouri since 2012.
Study sites include Missouri Prairie Foundation lands and many public grasslands.
In this webinar, MRBO’s co-founders Ethan Duke and Dana Ripper will discuss the need for bird population monitoring, how exactly it’s done, and MRBO’s decade of data. They will also address how anyone can contribute to the conservation of declining species restricted to native grassland habitat.
Register hereCost: Free
Ethan Duke hails from northern Appalachia where he grew up in deciduous forests. After a term of service in the US Air Force, Ethan completed a degree in Wildlife Management at the State University of New York – Cobleskill. He spent several years studying Cerulean Warblers in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee before coming to Missouri in 2009. Ethan co-founded the Missouri River Bird Observatory (MRBO) with Dana Ripper in 2010. When he is not performing IT and communications work, conducting education programs or performing bird surveys for MRBO, Ethan enjoys restoring and maintaining his central Missouri property, hunting and fishing, learning about and playing music, and watching birds for the sheer joy of it.
Dana Ripper is a wildlife ecologist who focuses on birds and their conservation. She has an MS in ecology from Arkansas State University (2002) and worked on conservation projects in 10 different states before making Missouri home in 2008. Dana and her fellow presenter, Ethan Duke, founded the Missouri River Bird Observatory (MRBO) in 2010. The organization is based in Arrow Rock, MO and conducts research, avian population monitoring, youth education, community outreach and policy advocacy throughout the state of Missouri. When Dana is not working on MRBO, she enjoys vegetable gardening, maintaining a small native prairie reconstruction at her home, reading fiction, observing the behavior of backyard birds, and cooking and eating local, sustainably-produced food.
Photo of Henslow’s sparrow by Noppadol Paothong