Cornell Drums and Space
Theme: Birdsong Cornell aka Wind/Air
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology brings together the agility and impact of an on-the-ground nonprofit organization with world-class science and teaching as part of Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Their work spans disciplines from science to art, engineering to education. Their global community includes supporters, participants, and partners from all walks of life, united by a love of birds and nature and a commitment to help protect our planet.
Tanah Papua: A Paradise for Birds
Watch the video here to experience the beauty of the island of New Guinea and meet the people in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua who are determined to save its forests. The largest tropical island in the world, New Guinea is home to more than 600 species of birds, including 27 bird-of-paradise species, many of which live nowhere else on earth. With more than 75% of its forests still intact, New Guinea’s forests are also globally important for climate change mitigation, but are at risk because of development for palm oil, timber, and infrastructure. As the governments of Papua and West Papua and international partners have sought conservation solutions, your support has helped the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provide science, compelling stories, and inspirational film and photography of the birds-of-paradise to raise awareness of these spectacular birds and the region’s rich biodiversity.
In 2018 Manokwari Declaration, the governors of Indonesia’s two New Guinea provinces committed to conserve 70% of the forest cover for the western half of the island, an exciting blueprint for the future of climate change mitigation, conservation, and sustainable livelihoods. Global interest in Papua’s birdlife is leading to increased opportunities for wildlife tourism and bringing newfound economic benefits to local communities. Realizing this vision will require much work and investment but, if achieved, will create a brighter future for Papua’s people and wildlife—and for the world.
Powered by Data from eBird and NASA, These Maps Are a Game-Changer for Conservation In December 2018, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology released the first in a series of new maps, charts, and data resources that reveal unprecedented details about not just where birds are, but how their numbers and habitats change through the seasons and years. Unlocking this wealth of information required more than 114 years of cloud computing time, provided by Amazon Web Services, to process observations recorded in eBird by more than 120,000 bird watchers across North America, along with satellite imagery from NASA.
The result: a captivating, data-driven portrait of the changing movements and numbers of birds—showing the full sweep of birds across the entire continent down to your own neighborhood. The new data-driven maps and visualizations, called “eBird Status and Trends,” are powerful new tools for science and conservation, realizing the original vision for eBird to monitor the health of bird populations across the continent in near real time. Maps and additional data-driven visualizations for 107 bird species are available and free to
download, with more regions and species to come, thanks to support from the National Science Foundation, Wolf Creek Charitable Foundation, Leon Levy Foundation, NASA, Amazon Web Services, Institute for Computational Sustainability, and supporters of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
