Chris Elphick

Associate Professor

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Depending on my mood, I consider myself a conservation biologist, an applied ecologist, or an ornithologist, with research interests that span behavioral, population, community and landscape ecology. Most of my research has focused on aquatic species that occur in wetland or agricultural habitats, but I’ve also worked in tropical forest, the boreal zone, and the open ocean. Despite this breadth (or, if you like, lack of focus) the overriding goal that unites much of my work is understanding how best ecologists can guide management decisions so as to reconcile the conservation of biological diversity with other human activities.

My current research interests involve studies of breeding birds in tidal marshes (mostly saltmarsh and seaside sparrows, but also other species), studies of birds in agricultural settings (mostly waterbirds in rice, but also other taxa in other crops), and studies of past and projected avian extinctions.