2022 Field Biology Award: Kristina Cockle

In collaboration with park rangers, naturalists, students and academics, Kristina Cockle works to advance knowledge of bird ecology and natural history. A primary focus of their research has been interactions within and across communities of cavity-nesting birds and mammals. Some species, such as woodpeckers, can excavate their own nest sites, but most cavity-nesters depend on pre-existing spaces to nest. Cockle established a long-term study, now in its 17th year, of tree-cavity-nesters in the subtropical Atlantic Forest (San Pedro, Misiones, Argentina). Their work complements a suite of independent cavity-nesting community studies by South American research teams, which together have shifted our understanding of the changing roles of excavators in global forest ecosystems and have advanced locally rooted strategies for cavity-nester conservation.

In addition to their work on cavity-nesters, Cockle and collaborators investigate the habits of nightjars in the flooded grasslands of Reserva Natural Rincón de Santa María (Corrientes, Argentina). Cockle also works with a team of educators to promote collective environmental action in San Pedro, and with teams of researchers to interrupt colonial and patriarchal hegemonies in ornithology.

For more information, visit https://sites.google.com/site/kristinacockle.

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