Photo: White-throated Sparrow, Dawn Phillips/Audubon Photography Awards

When: Friday, March 20, 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Where: Virtual
Fee: FREE, but registration is required

About the course:

This one-hour virtual course explores one of North America’s most fascinating songbirds: the White-throated Sparrow. While it may look like an ordinary backyard bird, this species has a truly unusual breeding system. Want to learn more? Join this class, taught by Professor Kiersten Newtoff, to explore their evolution, behavior, and more.

No prior experience is required to participate. However, this course is not intended to teach sparrow identification. Instead, it focuses on the science behind one of the many birds you can observe in this region.

About the professor:

Kiersten Newtoff (MS, Marine Biology) is an associate professor of biology at Montgomery College, a community college in Maryland. Her master's thesis examined mercury distributions in pelican colonies in North Carolina and she worked at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center using satellite imagery to answer ecological problems. Over the past several years, she has been teaching her students about the local avifauna, which led to the development of the campus nestbox trail where 300 + fledglings have called Montgomery College their home. Kiersten is working on her PhD in Biology at UMBC to better understand the impacts of urbanization on Eastern Bluebird reproductive success. She also holds a Master Banding Permit to assist with her research. When she’s not working on teaching or research, she can be found doing yard work, playing boardgames (like Wingspan!), or crafting up a fun cocktail.

NVBA Webinar Policies

All participants must register through Eventbrite to receive the Zoom link to attend this program. This event will be recorded and the recording will be shared with those who registered.

Questions may be directed to NVBA’s Community Engagement Coordinator, McKenzie, at mckenzie@nvbirdalliance.org.