Week 10 - Spring Quarter

The quarter wraps up with four bird-window collisions total and many questions about why dark-eyed Juncos were the only birds that hit the window. Finally, Natalia mentions there may be more about population distribution within our area that we can learn and a potential ‘lack of birds.’

I got a lot of excellent feedback at the ENVS symposium and the Norris center’s 50 years of wonder camping event celebration. It was so great to hear more perspectives about a project like this and understand what ways I can visualize data to access a broader audience. I could also have brought Kyle’s poster to supplement the understanding of the project. This event was also a fantastic time to think about life, naturalizing, history, and community. I spent a portion of my time in a discussion led by Christian Schwartz, a mycologist and teacher out of UCSC, about community data that contributed to my understanding of where we are with projects similar to bird-window collisions. Collecting data from the community is helpful and often essential, but there are limitations to the data’s representation and a host of ethical dilemmas that come along with it.

Final edits to the protocol, website and outreach materials are public-facing. Overall this project contributed a lot to my understanding of what research can look like and the conversations it can spark. I feel grateful to have worked with this group for two quarters. Additionally, I learned how helpful keeping a specific calendar can be to supplement my understanding of time and space; how I maneuvered space in my history. Things that I surely will take for the rest of my life.