Speaker: Dr. Wenfei Tong, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Birds exhibit a wide array of behaviors—from sabotaging budding romances to outsourcing childcare duties. Why do they behave as they do? Using diverse examples from around the world, including some of her own research in Zambia, Dr. Wenfei Tong will present vignettes about the private lives of birds in an evolutionary context, to show the science behind how much humans and birds have in common. She will use her art and photographs to illustrate stories from her books Bird Love and Understanding Bird Behavior and beyond, and discuss contributions from participatory science and local stewards towards our growing knowledge of birds and how to conserve them.

Dr. Wenfei Tong is a biologist with a passion for understanding and conserving the natural world. She enjoys sharing her love of birds and biology through her paintings, photography, teaching, and writing. Her books, Bird Love and Understanding Bird Behavior, use scientific discoveries to show how much humans and birds share, including some of literature’s most basic themes. Her ultimate aim is to inspire as many people as possible to connect with and care for nature.

Wenfei grew up in Singapore, where she started birding at 12. She first got hooked on field biology as an undergraduate at Princeton and Oxford, and has a PhD in evolutionary biology from Harvard. She has guided natural history tours for over 20 years including to Tanzania, the Galapagos, and Montana. She now works at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, NY.

To find out more: https://www.wenfeitong.com/