Why do animals migrate? (online event)

Have you ever spotted a flock of birds flying somewhere high above you? Have you ever stopped and stared, wondering where they might be going? Our speaker for this free online event is National Geographic Explorer Dr Lucy Hawkes, a leading expert on animal movements who uses state-of-the-art miniaturised electronic tracking units. Lucy tracks migrating animals, including deep-diving basking sharks and high-flying bar-headed geese, which were once thought to migrate over the summit of Mount Everest.
In this one hour event with audience questions and interaction, Lucy shared her tagging tales and explain what this information tells us about the most amazing athletes in the world.

This was a free event, but if you can afford it, please make a donation of any amount to help us continuing putting on events for curious minds.

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Speaker


Dr Lucy Hawkes

Senior Lecturer in Physiological Ecology
Biosciences
University of Exeter


Dr Lucy Hawkes is a physiological ecologist at the University of Exeter and a National Geographic Explorer. During her PhD she was the first person to track sea turtles from populations in North Carolina, USA, and the Cape Verde Islands. She has written over 60 scientific articles to date, which have been cited over 2300 times. Her work focuses on the costs and drivers of migration in animals (vertebrates and invertebrates) using emergent technologists such as satellite telemetry, heart rate logging, accelerometry and metabolic rate measurements. She uses technical approaches including biologging, spatial ecology, remote sensing and respirometry to make empirical measurements that help in the understanding of amazing migratory performances. Her work has also investigated the impact of external forcing factors, such as climate change and disease ecology on migration and breeding ecology.