Jess Hightower
@jesshightower.bsky.social
Wildlife conservation | Landscape ecology |Tropical ecology | Habitat loss and fragmentation | Community ecology | Climate Change | fan of 🐦s | she/her
Reposted by Jess Hightower
🤯 Wild shit here. They put biologgers on greater noctule bats and found them pursuing, capturing, and eating birds in-flight. The recording of a European Robin getting blasted and snacked on is nuts.
Sci Am story: www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Sci Am story: www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Bat vs. Robin—Scientists Capture Real-Life Audio of Midair Hunt
Scientists suspected that Europe’s largest bats snack on migrating songbirds when they can, but a stunning newly published observation proves it
www.scientificamerican.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:15 PM
🤯 Wild shit here. They put biologgers on greater noctule bats and found them pursuing, capturing, and eating birds in-flight. The recording of a European Robin getting blasted and snacked on is nuts.
Sci Am story: www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Sci Am story: www.scientificamerican.com/article/this...
Paper: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Jess Hightower
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I know this is a newer conference, but has anyone been to an earlier one or planning to go next year? worldbiodiversityforum.org/call-for-abs...
Call for Abstracts
Call for oral and poster abstracts for WBF2026 More than 90 sessions, in 10 thematic tracks will bring together international researchers, artists, practitioners, companies and policy makers from a va...
worldbiodiversityforum.org
November 13, 2025 at 7:33 PM
I know this is a newer conference, but has anyone been to an earlier one or planning to go next year? worldbiodiversityforum.org/call-for-abs...
Reposted by Jess Hightower
This looks to be a fundamental theoretical advance by @jpodwyer.bsky.social et al. Using linkage disequlibrium-based Ne to back out σ² and then predict fluctuation sizes from a single temporal snapshot is a real advance for broad application 🧪🌐https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu6396
Genomic demography predicts community dynamics in a temperate montane forest
Species population sizes fluctuate over time, and these temporal dynamics play a key role in governing the maintenance of biodiversity. Although modeling approaches have been developed to characterize...
www.science.org
October 7, 2025 at 7:14 PM
This looks to be a fundamental theoretical advance by @jpodwyer.bsky.social et al. Using linkage disequlibrium-based Ne to back out σ² and then predict fluctuation sizes from a single temporal snapshot is a real advance for broad application 🧪🌐https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu6396
Reposted by Jess Hightower
Using automated acoustic monitoring, citizen science, and centuries of ornithological research and understanding to quantify ecological integrity at scale.
The BirdsPlus Index, a novel method for assessing site-level conservation values.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The BirdsPlus Index, a novel method for assessing site-level conservation values.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 16, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Using automated acoustic monitoring, citizen science, and centuries of ornithological research and understanding to quantify ecological integrity at scale.
The BirdsPlus Index, a novel method for assessing site-level conservation values.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
The BirdsPlus Index, a novel method for assessing site-level conservation values.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Jess Hightower
Our Global Wildfire Collective Spatial Data Gateway is here! Intended for sharing wildfire-related data, maps, models, tools, and publications.
Explore now!
globalwildfirecollective.databasin.org
#GlobalWildfireCollective #ConsBio #DataBasin #FireData #WildfireData #Wildfire #Fire #FireResearch
Explore now!
globalwildfirecollective.databasin.org
#GlobalWildfireCollective #ConsBio #DataBasin #FireData #WildfireData #Wildfire #Fire #FireResearch
October 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Our Global Wildfire Collective Spatial Data Gateway is here! Intended for sharing wildfire-related data, maps, models, tools, and publications.
Explore now!
globalwildfirecollective.databasin.org
#GlobalWildfireCollective #ConsBio #DataBasin #FireData #WildfireData #Wildfire #Fire #FireResearch
Explore now!
globalwildfirecollective.databasin.org
#GlobalWildfireCollective #ConsBio #DataBasin #FireData #WildfireData #Wildfire #Fire #FireResearch
Reposted by Jess Hightower
I've been laying low, getting started at @westernu.ca but time to emerge from under the rock...
Here is a nice article about virtual fencing for cattle that includes our efforts to find conservation solutions for grassland birds on private lands.
www.kcur.org/environment-...
Here is a nice article about virtual fencing for cattle that includes our efforts to find conservation solutions for grassland birds on private lands.
www.kcur.org/environment-...
Ranchers are using ‘virtual fencing’ to move their cattle — and help save prairies
Virtual fencing uses GPS collars, sounds and electrical cues to move cattle across a landscape. Along with saving ranchers time, researchers say this new technology can help protect, and create, wildl...
www.kcur.org
October 13, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I've been laying low, getting started at @westernu.ca but time to emerge from under the rock...
Here is a nice article about virtual fencing for cattle that includes our efforts to find conservation solutions for grassland birds on private lands.
www.kcur.org/environment-...
Here is a nice article about virtual fencing for cattle that includes our efforts to find conservation solutions for grassland birds on private lands.
www.kcur.org/environment-...
Do we have a word yet for “fear of closing tabs”?
September 14, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Do we have a word yet for “fear of closing tabs”?
Reposted by Jess Hightower
🌳🦟Indigenous territory extent in the Amazon biome can reduce the incidence of fire-related and zoonotic/vector-borne diseases in humans.
👉Read more here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...
👉Read more here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Indigenous Territories can safeguard human health depending on the landscape structure and legal status - Communications Earth & Environment
Indigenous territory extent in the Amazon biome can reduce the incidence of fire-related and zoonotic/vector-borne diseases, but only in certain contexts, according to an analysis of disease incidence...
www.nature.com
September 12, 2025 at 12:28 PM
🌳🦟Indigenous territory extent in the Amazon biome can reduce the incidence of fire-related and zoonotic/vector-borne diseases in humans.
👉Read more here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...
👉Read more here: www.nature.com/articles/s43...
A very cool story!
Science is rarely a linear path from hypotheses to published papers. Here, I tell the story of our many ups and downs during the discovery of pollinator recognition. Hope you enjoy it! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 7, 2025 at 6:59 PM
A very cool story!
Reposted by Jess Hightower
📖Published📖
Forrest et al. present deepSSF, an approach to fit and predict animal movement data using deep learning 🐃 🌍 🧪 Read the full article here 👇
buff.ly/BWQ3Oni
Forrest et al. present deepSSF, an approach to fit and predict animal movement data using deep learning 🐃 🌍 🧪 Read the full article here 👇
buff.ly/BWQ3Oni
August 22, 2025 at 11:02 AM
📖Published📖
Forrest et al. present deepSSF, an approach to fit and predict animal movement data using deep learning 🐃 🌍 🧪 Read the full article here 👇
buff.ly/BWQ3Oni
Forrest et al. present deepSSF, an approach to fit and predict animal movement data using deep learning 🐃 🌍 🧪 Read the full article here 👇
buff.ly/BWQ3Oni
Need a brand name? Pick a word and remove a vowel (or two). So should I call my pretend business Ecolgy, Eclogy, Eclgy, Wld, Brds, Natr, Envro, BDvy?
August 19, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Need a brand name? Pick a word and remove a vowel (or two). So should I call my pretend business Ecolgy, Eclogy, Eclgy, Wld, Brds, Natr, Envro, BDvy?
Reposted by Jess Hightower
Are you looking for a PhD position and want to spend your summers in the Rocky Mountains?
My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! 🧪🌍🐙
Apply by Nov 1!
Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...
My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! 🧪🌍🐙
Apply by Nov 1!
Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...
2025 - Hypoxia PhD job ad
The Moore lab at the University of Colorado Denver is searching for 1 Ph.D. student to study the elevational limits of dragonflies in Colorado (http://moore-evo-eco.weebly.com). This position is fully...
docs.google.com
August 18, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Are you looking for a PhD position and want to spend your summers in the Rocky Mountains?
My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! 🧪🌍🐙
Apply by Nov 1!
Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...
My lab @cudenverclas.bsky.social is looking for 1 PhD student to work on a NSF-funded project to study elevational range shifts in Colorado! 🧪🌍🐙
Apply by Nov 1!
Details here docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Reposted by Jess Hightower
We have a #Tansley review out today @newphyt.bsky.social led by Becky Banbury Morgan in which we put forward a new framework that aims to explain how and why edge effects on forest structure vary across ecosystems and through time
📜 doi.org/10.1111/nph....
📜 doi.org/10.1111/nph....
August 14, 2025 at 8:16 AM
We have a #Tansley review out today @newphyt.bsky.social led by Becky Banbury Morgan in which we put forward a new framework that aims to explain how and why edge effects on forest structure vary across ecosystems and through time
📜 doi.org/10.1111/nph....
📜 doi.org/10.1111/nph....
Reposted by Jess Hightower
Short paper showing how phenology responds nonlinearly to warming (and why summed degree-days are better than days/°C)
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Rethinking the interpretation of spring phenological temperature sensitivity - npj Science of Plants
npj Science of Plants - Rethinking the interpretation of spring phenological temperature sensitivity
www.nature.com
August 8, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Short paper showing how phenology responds nonlinearly to warming (and why summed degree-days are better than days/°C)
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Reposted by Jess Hightower
New article out today in Nature - intensified El Niño events under climate change appear to be chipping away at tropical forest arthropod diversity.
This is already leading to substantial losses in arthropod function in primary forests across the tropics.
rdcu.be/ezAxP
This is already leading to substantial losses in arthropod function in primary forests across the tropics.
rdcu.be/ezAxP
Stronger El Niños reduce tropical forest arthropod diversity and function
Nature - Time-series data from tropical forests tracking weather and declines in arthropod diversity and function show that fluctuations in species were largely dependent on their El Niño...
rdcu.be
August 6, 2025 at 6:06 PM
New article out today in Nature - intensified El Niño events under climate change appear to be chipping away at tropical forest arthropod diversity.
This is already leading to substantial losses in arthropod function in primary forests across the tropics.
rdcu.be/ezAxP
This is already leading to substantial losses in arthropod function in primary forests across the tropics.
rdcu.be/ezAxP
Invertebrates are declining even in pristine tropical forests and climate change is the culprit.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Stronger El Niños reduce tropical forest arthropod diversity and function - Nature
Time-series data from tropical forests tracking weather and declines in arthropod diversity and function show that fluctuations in species were largely dependent on their El Niño sensitivity and ecolo...
www.nature.com
August 6, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Invertebrates are declining even in pristine tropical forests and climate change is the culprit.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Jess Hightower
Analysis of data on 971 bird species in Colombia finds that near-national-scale losses of bird diversity greatly exceed losses recorded at the local scale, suggesting that extrapolations from local studies will severely underestimate biodiversity losses
www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪
Tropical biodiversity loss from land-use change is severely underestimated by local-scale assessments - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Analysis of data on 971 bird species in natural habitat and cattle pasture in Colombia finds that near-national-scale losses of bird diversity greatly exceed losses recorded at the local scale, sugges...
www.nature.com
July 23, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Analysis of data on 971 bird species in Colombia finds that near-national-scale losses of bird diversity greatly exceed losses recorded at the local scale, suggesting that extrapolations from local studies will severely underestimate biodiversity losses
www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪
www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🧪
Reposted by Jess Hightower
Could we use community/citizen/participatory science data to estimate population extinction risk? Our results comparing the estimates from eBird and from a standardized survey suggest we can!!
#ornithology #ecology #conservation
See our detailed tutorial oaccolombia.github.io/vpm_eBird/vp...
#ornithology #ecology #conservation
See our detailed tutorial oaccolombia.github.io/vpm_eBird/vp...
July 23, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Could we use community/citizen/participatory science data to estimate population extinction risk? Our results comparing the estimates from eBird and from a standardized survey suggest we can!!
#ornithology #ecology #conservation
See our detailed tutorial oaccolombia.github.io/vpm_eBird/vp...
#ornithology #ecology #conservation
See our detailed tutorial oaccolombia.github.io/vpm_eBird/vp...
A much needed updated work. How does time fly by so fast? Looking forward to digging in.
New online! Drivers and solutions to Southeast Asia’s biodiversity crisis
Drivers and solutions to Southeast Asia’s biodiversity crisis
Nature Reviews Biodiversity, Published online: 23 July 2025; doi:10.1038/s44358-025-00064-7The terrestrial ecosystems of Southeast Asia are both globally important reservoirs of biodiversity, and a provider of resources and livelihoods for millions of people across the region. This Review summarizes the threats to biodiversity in Southeast Asia, and the conservation solutions required to ensure successful outcomes for biodiversity and people.
bit.ly
July 23, 2025 at 5:32 PM
A much needed updated work. How does time fly by so fast? Looking forward to digging in.
Reposted by Jess Hightower
BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.
July 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM
BREAKING: Scientists are staging a “science fair” in the lobby of a Congressional building to tell elected officials about the critical knowledge the US will lose because their research grants have been canceled.
Reposted by Jess Hightower
ad to come, but I'm looking for an M.S. student to study the conservation genomics of swift foxes on the American Prairie Reserve in Montana beginning 9/1. this is a collaboration w/ Smithsonian & Justine Becker; strong candidates will have prior genomics experience and be up for remote fieldwork
June 26, 2025 at 9:30 PM
ad to come, but I'm looking for an M.S. student to study the conservation genomics of swift foxes on the American Prairie Reserve in Montana beginning 9/1. this is a collaboration w/ Smithsonian & Justine Becker; strong candidates will have prior genomics experience and be up for remote fieldwork
Reposted by Jess Hightower
Proud to share new research led by former MS student, Alfredo Gonzalez.
He determined the mechanisms behind nest failure for an endangered bird and its relevance to wetland management.
academic.oup.com/condor/advan...
He determined the mechanisms behind nest failure for an endangered bird and its relevance to wetland management.
academic.oup.com/condor/advan...
Causes of nest failure vary with water depth, nesting substrate, and adverse weather in the endangered wetland-breeding Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus (Everglade Snail Kite)
ABSTRACT. Understanding the causes of nest failure is important for interpreting species interactions, drivers of population limitation, and wildlife manag
academic.oup.com
June 23, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Proud to share new research led by former MS student, Alfredo Gonzalez.
He determined the mechanisms behind nest failure for an endangered bird and its relevance to wetland management.
academic.oup.com/condor/advan...
He determined the mechanisms behind nest failure for an endangered bird and its relevance to wetland management.
academic.oup.com/condor/advan...
Reposted by Jess Hightower
One huge problem with the big focus on tree planting is that a forest is not just trees - its a community of interacting plants and animals
Most trees depend on animals to disperse their seeds, but seed dispersers are dying out everywhere
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Most trees depend on animals to disperse their seeds, but seed dispersers are dying out everywhere
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Drivers and impacts of global seed disperser decline - Nature Reviews Biodiversity
Many plants rely on animals to disperse their seeds, but some groups of these seed-dispersing animals are facing severe declines. This Review summarizes evidence of seed disperser declines and discuss...
www.nature.com
May 20, 2025 at 8:24 AM
One huge problem with the big focus on tree planting is that a forest is not just trees - its a community of interacting plants and animals
Most trees depend on animals to disperse their seeds, but seed dispersers are dying out everywhere
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Most trees depend on animals to disperse their seeds, but seed dispersers are dying out everywhere
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Reposted by Jess Hightower
Landsat is a force for good. Makes sense they’d want to take it way as we’ll.
😔😔😔
😔😔😔
👀👀
"The #Landsat Next project is currently assessing alternate mission architectures to support more affordable ways to maintain the continuity of Landsat imagery per the language in the FY26 President’s Budget Request (PBR). Updates will be forthcoming."
landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/satellites/l...
"The #Landsat Next project is currently assessing alternate mission architectures to support more affordable ways to maintain the continuity of Landsat imagery per the language in the FY26 President’s Budget Request (PBR). Updates will be forthcoming."
landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/satellites/l...
Landsat Next | Landsat Science
The Landsat Next project is currently assessing alternate mission architectures to support more affordable ways to maintain the continuity of Landsat imagery per the language in the FY26 President’s B...
landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov
June 12, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Landsat is a force for good. Makes sense they’d want to take it way as we’ll.
😔😔😔
😔😔😔