Ivy Expedition – Kenya!

Photo: Left to Right: Rachael Mady, Sarah Toner, Christopher Sayers, Alex (our local guide), and Facundo Fernandez-Duque collecting media from our trusty old Toyota named “Olga”.

An Ivy Expedition to the Laikipia Plateau region of Kenya in April brought back a plethora of new media for Macaulay Library. The media included 334 audio recordings of 77 species and videos recording the behaviors of 115 species. The videos included 39 species of birds and mammals that are new to the Lab’s collection. The student team of videographers, photographers, and recordists featured lab group members Christopher Sayers (class of 2020), Sarah Toner (class of 2019), Facundo Fernandez-Duque (class of 2018), and Rachael Mady (MS candidate). David Bonter served as driver and lion lookout. The team is now working on a video featuring the research of Cornell alum and former Lab staffer Shailee Shah, who is currently collecting data on Superb Starlings for her Ph.D. at Columbia University.