Biodiversity Research Seminar Series (BRS)
BRS Jessie Williamson: Avian migration, physiology, and speciation at elevational extremes
October 16, 2024, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
a recording of this talk can be found here:
Passcode: #X4$!wLN
Host: Altshuler Lab
Speaker: Jessie Williamson
Postdoctoral fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates
(Currently recruiting graduate students for her own lab at University of Wyoming opening in 2025!)
Title: Avian migration, physiology, and speciation at elevational extremes
Abstract: High elevations push organisms to their physiological limits; yet, mountains are biodiversity hotspots
worldwide. Dr. Williamson will discuss her work on birds that make extreme seasonal shifts in elevation
during migration, focusing on how these movements affect ecology, evolution, and physiology. She will
highlight recent work on the migration, genomics, and blood physiology of giant hummingbirds (Patagona
spp.) in Chile and Peru, which reveals key insights about performance and speciation in mountains.