Dr. Dee Boersma

Foot darkening with age in Spheniscus penguins: applications and functions

Publications /

From the abstract: “We found that Spheniscus penguins have pale feet at hatching and the feet become darker with age throughout the lives of individuals. We showed that we can accurately predict the age structure of a colony of Magellanic penguins Spheniscus magellanicus, but not the ages of individual penguins, based on a sample of foot colors.” Authors: Ginger Rebstock, […]

Foot darkening with age in Spheniscus penguins: applications and functions Read More »

Field Updates: Galápagos Islands, summer 2024

Boersma Lab, Updates from the Field /

In July 2024, Dr. Dee Boersma and Dr. Caroline Cappello traveled to the Galápagos Islands for a penguin expedition unlike any they’d experienced before. Since 2010, CES has collaborated with Galápagos National Park and conservationist Godfrey Merlen to visit penguin breeding areas and conduct research. After Godfrey’s passing in 2023, CES—with heavy hearts but optimism for the future—sought a new

Field Updates: Galápagos Islands, summer 2024 Read More »

Increasing environmental variability inhibits evolutionary rescue in a long-lived vertebrate

Publications /

“Using a multidecadal dataset on Magellanic penguins, we show that despite strong selection on body size, some environmental conditions favored larger bodies, and others favored smaller bodies, thus preventing consistent evolution in one direction or the other […] Such findings highlight that fluctuating selection can be driven by environmental variability, and these processes could eliminate the possibility of evolutionary rescue

Increasing environmental variability inhibits evolutionary rescue in a long-lived vertebrate Read More »

PENGUINS: Natural History and Conservation

Boersma Lab /

Published over 10 years ago, Penguins: Natural History and Conservation is still considered the publication about penguins. UW PressBookshop.comAmazon.com Penguins, among the most delightful creatures in the world, are also among the most vulnerable. The fragile status of most penguin populations today mirrors the troubled condition of the southern oceans, as well as larger marine conservation problems: climate change, pollution,

PENGUINS: Natural History and Conservation Read More »

The value of field research in academia

Publications /

Authors: Kasim Rafiq, Neil R. Jordan, J. Weldon McNutt, John Neelo, Nina Attias, Dee Boersma, Meredith S. Palmer, Jennifer Ruesink, and Briana AbrahmsJournal: ScienceDOI: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado6937 “By refining the academic system to recognize and support different forms of scientific inquiry equally, we can build the diverse research community necessary to empower discovery across disciplines.”

The value of field research in academia Read More »

The capacity of sentinel species to detect changes in environmental conditions and ecosystem structure

Publications /

Authors: T. J. Clark-Wolf, Katie A. Holt, Erik Johansson, Anna C. Nisi, Kasim Rafiq, Leigh West, P. Dee Boersma, Elliott L. Hazen, Sue E. Moore, Briana AbrahmsJournal: Journal of Applied EcologyDOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14669 “A major obstacle to preventing and reversing biodiversity loss in the Anthropocene lies in the scarcity of tools and data for monitoring the health and trajectory of ecosystems. Sentinel species can provide insight into unobserved ecosystem change,

The capacity of sentinel species to detect changes in environmental conditions and ecosystem structure Read More »

A fearful scourge to the penguin colonies: Southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus) predation on living Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) may be more common than assumed

Publications /

Authors: Dr. Eric Wagner, Dr. Ginger Rebstock and Dr. P Dee BoersmaJournal: Marine Ecology Press SeriesDOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.11258 Excerpt from abstract: Southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) are important consumers that range across the oceans throughout the southern hemisphere […] Here we describe a predation attempt by a trio of southern giant petrels on a molting adult Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) at

A fearful scourge to the penguin colonies: Southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus) predation on living Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) may be more common than assumed Read More »

Center paper finalist for Cozzarelli Prize

Abrahms Lab, Boersma Lab, News /

The paper “Climate presses and pulses mediate the decline of a migratory predator”,” published last year ” is the finalist for the Cozzarelli Prize in the category Class VI: Applied Biological, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Congrats to former Abrahms Lab postdoc Dr.T. J. Clark-Wolf, Dr. Dee Boersma, Dr. Ginger A. Rebstock, and Dr. Briana Abrahms! Read the full press release

Center paper finalist for Cozzarelli Prize Read More »

Dr. Dee Boersma awarded Godman Salvin Prize

Boersma Lab, News /

Dr. Dee Boersma received the British Ornithological Union’s Godman Salvin Prize on February 23, 2024, during the Pacific Seabird Group’s annual conference banquet. The Godman Salvin Prize is awarded by BOU Council to honor an individual’s distinguished ornithological work. Recent Godman Salvin Prize recipients include Professor Cao Lei (2023), Professor Nick Davies (2022) and Professor Theunis Piersma (2020). The Committee

Dr. Dee Boersma awarded Godman Salvin Prize Read More »

Scroll to Top