Thomas W. Sherry | |
---|---|
Born | March 26, 1951 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Ecologist and academic |
Academic background | |
Education | A.B. Biology A.M. Biology Ph.D. Ecology |
Alma mater | Dartmouth College University of California, Los Angeles |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Tulane University Dartmouth College |
Main interests | Long-distance migratory birds,foraging and feeding ecology of insectivorous birds,climate change and environmental threats |
Thomas W. Sherry is an American ecologist and academic. He serves as a professor emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University. [1]
Sherry's research primarily investigates the population and community ecology of migration,focusing on the long-distance migration of New World warblers (Parulidae) wintering in the Caribbean, [2] with this work published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . His studies in Jamaica focus on non-breeding migratory birds,and he has explored their population ecology,foraging and feeding ecology,diets,and competition,particularly among insectivorous birds. Another major research focus is the proliferation and coexistence of resident tropical birds. In addition to his research,he has taught ecology,evolution,conservation biology,climate change,and other environmental issues, [3] and has supervised 16 PhD students. He is a recipient of several awards,including George H. Lowery Award [4] and the Swallow-tailed Kite Award. [5]
Sherry is an Elected Fellow of the American Ornithological Society [6] and he co-chaired the 3rd and 7th quadrennial North American Ornithological Conferences. [7] [8]
Sherry completed his undergraduate studies in Biology at Dartmouth College in 1973. He obtained a Graduate Fellowship at Dartmouth College,pursuing a master's degree in biology. [9] Continuing his education at the University of California,Los Angeles (UCLA),he received a Regents Fellowship and worked as a Teaching Assistant in Ecology,Field Ecology,Field Ornithology,Field Entomology,and Evolution from 1975 to 1981. He earned an NSF National Needs Fellowship in 1979,and completed his Ph.D. in ecology at UCLA in 1982. Following his doctoral studies,he served as an instructor in Tropical Vertebrate Ecology and worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate from 1981 to 1988 at Dartmouth College.
Sherry joined Tulane University as an assistant professor in 1989,becoming a Full Professor in 1999. He was a Charles Bullard Fellow in Forest Research at Harvard University in 2018 [10] and served as President Elect of the American Ornithological Society from 2018 to 2020. [11]
From 2016 to 2021,he was the New Day Professor III and the Siegel Professor in Social Entrepreneurship,then the Siegel Professor in Social Entrepreneurship,both in Tulane's Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking. In 2022,he joined the Department of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth College as a Visiting Scholar. [12]
Sherry has focused his research on the population and community ecology of migration,specifically studying birds like the Swainson's warbler,the American swallow-tailed kite,and the American redstart;and later in his career on the proliferation and coexistence of resident tropical birds,leading to the publication of over 120 scientific papers and book chapters. His interests also expanded into teaching and activism related to climate change,and to the increasing threats to the organisms and ecosystems he has studied throughout his career. [2]
Sherry has studied the impact of food availability on migratory bird populations in winter,as well as how predators indirectly affect breeding populations through food dynamics. His lab employed statistical,experimental,and modeling methods to test hypotheses about populations and landscapes. [13] [14] Through collaborative research,he highlighted shade coffee plantations as excellent winter habitat for many migratory birds,offering abundant food and suitable conditions year-round. [15] He also investigated food resources in shade coffee plantations,coastal and montane Caribbean habitats,dietary similarities among species,potential for intra- and interspecific competition,and birds' consumption of coffee insect pests. [16] His lab explored prey selection and the ecology of migrant and tropical birds,comparing prey types and sizes consumed by redstarts in Jamaica and Louisiana. They analyzed prey consumption relative to availability in wet limestone Jamaican habitats,to understand food selection,dietary specialization,and interspecific competition using ecological and evolutionary approaches. [17]
Sherry completed a 10-year study on the impacts of forest loss and fragmentation on resident tropical birds in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica and nearby countries. [18] [19] While a post-doc at Dartmouth,he co-founded with Richard Holmes,research involving the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) and other Neotropical-Nearctic migratory birds wintering at Font Hill,Jamaica,focusing on their year-round ecology. [20] [21] The research emphasized the importance of habitat quality on the wintering grounds and its impact on birds' health and reproductive success on the breeding grounds. [22] [23]
Sherry's lab examined the impacts of pollution and human development in Louisiana on bird populations,emphasizing the critical role of Louisiana's wetlands habitats. [24] These studies on colonial wading birds like herons,ibises,and egrets included the effects of crawfish aquaculture and heavy metal contamination on their populations. [25] Exploring the unique feeding behaviors of the Cocos Finch,endemic to its eponymous tropical oceanic island,he and Tracey Werner challenged conventional ecological theories with evidence of behaviorally maintained,individual feeding specializations. [26]
Sherry's lab contributed to the whole genome sequencing of American Redstarts,and documentation of important genetic variation across the breeding range. [27]
Sherry's early interest in birds and natural history were stimulated in particular by his parents,Grace Coit Meleny (a neighbor and retired school teacher),and Anne LaBastille. His birdwatching interests accumulated a yard bird list of 167 species at his home in Algiers,Louisiana,where he and his wife,Tracey Werner Sherry,kept multiple bird feeders,attracting a variety of species,particularly hummingbirds. Upon his retirement from Tulane,they moved to VT. [28]
The yellow-rumped warbler is a regular North American bird species that can be commonly observed all across the continent. Its extensive distribution range connects both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the U.S. as well as Canada and Central America,with the population concentrating in the continent's northern parts during the breeding season and migrating southwards to southern North and Central America in Winter. The species generally prefers coniferous forests or mixed coniferous-deciduous forests as its breeding habitat,while during the winter it can be found inhabiting more open areas such as shrublands that offer food resources. The diet of the yellow-rumped warbler is based primarily on insects,though the species does eat fruits such as juniper berries as well,especially in winter.
Audubon's warbler is a small bird of the family Parulidae. At one time considered a distinct species,discovery of a hybrid zone between it and the myrtle warbler in 1973 has led to it being classified as a subspecies of the yellow-rumped warbler.
The Cape May warbler is a species of New World warbler. It breeds in northern North America. Its breeding range spans all but the westernmost parts of southern Canada,the Great Lakes region,and New England. It is migratory,wintering in the West Indies. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe,with two records in Britain as of October 2013. The English name refers to Cape May,New Jersey,where George Ord collected the specimen later described by Alexander Wilson. This species was not recorded again in Cape May for another 100 years,although it is now known as an uncommon migrant there.
The Blackburnian warbler is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America,from southern Canada,westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies,the Great Lakes region and New England,to North Carolina.
The blackpoll warbler is a New World warbler. Breeding males are mostly black and white. They have a prominent black cap,white cheeks,and white wing bars. The blackpoll breeds in forests of northern North America,from Alaska throughout most of Canada,to the Adirondack Mountains of New York as well as New England in the Northeastern United States. They are a common migrant throughout much of North America. In fall,they fly south to the Greater Antilles and the northeastern coasts of South America in a non-stop long-distance migration over open water,averaging 2,500 km (1,600 mi),one of the longest-distance non-stop overwater flights ever recorded for a migratory songbird. Rare vagrants to western Europe,they are one of the more frequent transatlantic passerine wanderers.
The chestnut-sided warbler is a New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America and in southern Canada westwards to the Canadian Prairies. They also breed in the Great Lakes region and in the eastern United States.
The magnolia warbler is a member of the wood warbler family Parulidae.
The yellow warbler is a New World warbler species. Yellow warblers are the most widespread species in the diverse genus Setophaga,breeding in almost the whole of North America,the Caribbean,and down to northern South America.
The northern parula is a small New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America from southern Canada to Florida.
The black-and-white warbler is a species of New World warbler,and the only member of its genus,Mniotilta. It breeds in northern and eastern North America and winters in Florida,Central America,and the West Indies down to Peru. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The hooded warbler is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America across the eastern United States and into southernmost Canada (Ontario). It is migratory,wintering in Central America and the West Indies. Hooded warblers are very rare vagrants to western Europe.
The American redstart is a New World warbler. It is unrelated to the Old World (common) redstart.
The black-throated blue warbler is a small passerine bird of the New World warbler family. Its breeding ranges are located in the interior of deciduous and mixed coniferous forests in eastern North America. Over the cooler months,it migrates to islands in the Caribbean and Central America. It is very rarely found in western Europe,where it is considered to be a non-indigenous species. The black-throated blue warbler is sexually dimorphic;the adult male has a black face and cheeks,deep blue upperparts and white underparts,while the adult female is olive-brown above and light yellow below.
The cerulean warbler is a small songbird in the family Parulidae. It is a long-distance migrant,breeding in eastern North American hardwood forests. In the non-breeding season,it winters on the eastern slope of the Andes in South America,preferring subtropical forests.
The yellow-throated warbler is a small migratory songbird species in the New World warbler family (Parulidae) found in temperate North America.
The worm-eating warbler is a small New World warbler that breeds in the Eastern United States and migrates to southern Mexico,the Caribbean,and Central America for the winter.
The golden-cheeked warbler is an endangered species of bird that breeds in Central Texas,from Palo Pinto County southwestward along the eastern and southern edge of the Edwards Plateau to Kinney County. The golden-cheeked warbler is the only bird species with a breeding range endemic to Texas.
The hermit warbler is a small perching bird. It is a species of New World warbler or wood-warbler. They are a migratory bird,the breeding range spanning the majority of the west coast of the United States. Their winter range includes parts of Mexico and Central America as well as parts of the southern California coast.
Wilsonia is a small genus of New World warblers which breed in North America. They are migratory,wintering south of their breeding ranges in Central America,the West Indies or South America.
Setophaga is a genus of birds of the New World warbler family Parulidae. It contains at least 34 species. The Setophaga warblers are an example of adaptive radiation with the various species using different feeding techniques and often feeding in different parts of the same tree.