Kim Savides
Research Support Specialist
Expertise
Avian Ecology • Data Management • Ornithological Field Methods • GIS
I support the ecological research side of the Center for Engagement in Science & Nature’s many programs. This includes both analyzing data from Project FeederWatch, NestWatch, and the Great Backyard Bird Count, and making those data accessible and understandable to other researchers as well as the public! I also help mentor undergraduates at the Cornell Lab in conducting their own ornithological research.
Before coming to the Cornell Lab, I was a field ornithologist and spent a decade traveling the country doing fieldwork for many different bird research projects. I worked with species ranging from small warblers and other Neotropical migrants, to shorebirds and Burrowing Owls—even to the elusive Chuck-will’s-Widow and Black Rosy-Finch. Watching these birds throughout their full annual cycles got me interested in how and why birds migrate, which led me to grad school at Utah State University. While there I studied the migratory timing and routes of the Lazuli Bunting. Migration continues to fascinate me, and I am constantly amazed at what we have been able to learn from watching the birds around us.
Beyond the Lab
In my spare time I live to fly fish. If I’m not working with birds, you’ll probably find me wading the local creeks in pursuit of native fish. I tie all my own flies, and have a long-term goal of trying to catch all the species of native trout in North America.
Education
M.S., Ecology, Utah State University, 2022.
B.S. College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State Universirty of New York (SUNY-ESF), Wildlife Science
