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Hi I’m John, welcome to my website.

I am an ornithologist and conservationist.

I have had a lifelong interest in birds and bird conservation and currently work as the Director of the Search for Lost Birds at American Bird Conservancy. This passion has led me on field projects to Madagascar, Suriname, Indonesia, and the Solomons Islands, among others. I completed a PhD in biodiversity conservation at the University of Oxford, and a masters in ornithology from Louisiana State University’s Museum of Natural Science.

I started this site to share some of my past and ongoing projects. I hope you find it interesting!

News and recent updates

 
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Joining the team at ABC!

June 22, 2020 I’m very excited to be joining the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) as their new Director of Threatened Species Outreach. I’ve admired ABC’s conservation work for many years, so am really looking forward to being part of their team. To learn more about ABC and the bird conservation they are doing in the United States and across Central and South America check out their website: https://abcbirds.org/

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Paper on fieldwork along the Mekong River

April 11, 2020 Erik Sandvig, Merlijn Jocque and I wrote a paper summarizing our ornithological findings from the Kdan-Mekong Expedition in Cambodia. The paper is out now in Birding Asia and highlights some of the urgent conservation needs for birds in this area. You can also read Erik’s blog post about our experiences along the Mekong on the BINCO website here: https://binco.eu/international-projects/declining-populations-of-threatened-bird-species-along-the-mekong-river-cambodia/

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Audubon article on Madagascar expedition

July 1, 2019 The article on our expedition in northern Madagascar is out in Audubon Magazine! Kimon de Greef and Tristan Spinski did an incredible job with the writing and photos. Check it out here: https://www.audubon.org/magazine/summer-2019/scientists-race-uncover-secrets-madagascars Also be sure to watch Tristan’s trailer for the project (posted on my Madagascar Expeditions page)!

Interested in doing a deep dive on some of the human stories around Lost Birds? Check out @americanbirdconservancy’s Conservation and Justice Fellowships on Lost Birds! These are part time positions for someone with research and writing experie
Super excited and relieved! That probably best describes how Lily-Arison Rene de Roland, Loukman Kalavah and I felt to finally see this Dusky Tetraka after nine days of searching for it in the mountains of Madagascar. The tetraka is one of the top 10
At first I just walked by this Cinnamon Teal without thinking much about it. But after noticing how the evening light was starting to reflect off the water, I decided to get the camera and spend some time taking pictures of it. Regardless of how the
A Gould’s Inca watching over our camp in the cloud forest 👉. I imagine he’s wondering what these strange things are in his territory! . Near Charazani, Bolivia with @armonia.bolivia. . . . #bestbirdshots #nuts_about_birds #kings_birds #
This blew my mind… Black-and-white Hawk-eagles are big, boldly-patterned, and live in forests from Mexico all way to northern Argentina. So you’d expect we would know a lot about them, right? Not quite! As recently as 2008, Black-and-whi
Lost species can be rediscovered! This amazing bird, the Palkachupa Cotinga, was lost for 98 years before it was rediscovered by @armonia.bolivia in 2000. . . . #bestbirdshots #nuts_about_birds #kings_birds #your_best_birds #best_birds_of_ig #ig_disc
The scientific name of this White-fronted Woodpecker is “Melanerpes cactorum,” which translates to ‘cactus black creeper.’ The cactus part certainly seems appropriate! I had fun watching this pair at the @armonia.bolivia Red-f
Macaws pair bond for life and have lifespans similar to our own, often living to be 60 or older. So throughout nearly the entire span of a human life these two birds will spend almost every moment within sight of each other, often flying so close tha