Conservation & Biodiversity

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We provide quantitative tools and new science-based information to guide managers and policymakers on conservation decisions involving wetland birds, freshwater flows, and coastal ecosystems.

Wetland birds are visible contributors to biodiversity that connect freshwater wetlands, coastal marshes, and marine ecosystems — the very places that people also enjoy for recreation and depend on for jobs. Research in the Conservation and Biodiversity Lab supports managers and policymakers charged with sustaining this coastal interface of the Gulf of Mexico. Our research questions focus on wetland birds and their connections to water, fish, and invertebrates. Our expertise is strong in wetland bird ecology and conservation, ecosystem restoration, and bird-monitoring programs for aquatic ecosystem management. We have a special focus on habitat models and on how hydrologic processes control wading bird populations. View a list of resources, professional organizations, and collaborators for our research group HERE.

The use of drone footage allow researchers to gain valuable images of waterbird colonies for analysis with very minimal disturbance

Master’s student Rostam Mirzadi sets up a game camera in front of a nest of Snowy Egrets. Cameras are used to monitor parental attendance and feeding frequency with minimal disturbance to the nesting birds.

Dr. Gawlik and student researchers doing field work by airboat in the Upper Laguna Madre

Blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is a common prey item for large waterbird species

Forage fish that are sampled from the marsh are brought back to the lab for sorting and analysis

Nesting bird surveys performed in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy and Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program. MS student Ro Mirzadi pilots a drone to obtain footage of colonies for counting.

Ph.D. candidate Kate Shlepr holds a pre-flight Wood Stork chick for sampling. (photo credit: Luisa Hernandez, Skybox Studios Inc.)

Conservation and Biology Lab affiliate Dr. Michelle Petersen (Florida Atlantic University) conducts a nest check at a wading bird colony in Lake Okeechobee, Florida

Dr. Dale Gawlik holds a wild Great Egret for banding and sampling

Drone footage assists with nesting waterbird colony surveys on Shamrock Island. Drone surveys have shown minimal disturbance to the colonies while providing very accurate counts of nests.

Dr. Gawlik and doctoral student Antonio Cantu analyze spoil island vegetation

Transmitter placed on a Little Blue Heron in the Florida Keys

Colonial nesting waterbirds on a spoil island in the Upper Laguna Madre

Dale Gawlik, Ph.D.

Endowed Chair for Conservation & Biodiversity

Our People

Endowed Chair for Conservation & Biodiversity Dr. Dale Gawlik leads a team of students and researchers in developing new tools and data to help understand the coastal habitats that sustain important bird populations. Meet his team:

Conservation & Biodiversity

For the Birds: Avian Ecologist Dr. Dale Gawlik Brings Everglades Conservation Experience to ‘Birdiest’ City

The Waterbird Society Annual Conference

Colony Island Network Design and Implementation (CINDI) to Recover Waterbirds in the Gulf of Mexico: Pilot Study

Spatio-Temporal Mapping of Contemporary and Future State-listed Heron and Egret Foraging Habitat in Florida

Movement Patterns of Wading Birds as a Mechanism Linking Freshwater Wetlands and Coastal Ecosystems in the Greater Everglades