Maya Wilson

Maya Wilson, an IGC IGEP Fellow and Ph.D. student in Biological Sciences, was recently awarded a Rufford Foundation small grant to support her research on Bahama swallows.

Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation (RSGs) are intended to support small-scale or pilot projects with a nature, biodiversity, or conservation focus. The Foundation prefers to support projects which go beyond a species-specific focus to provide habitat protection at a wider scale. The overriding requirement is that the work must be structured to provide long-lasting and practical conservation outcomes on the ground.

Maya’s proposal summary:

The Bahama Swallow (Tachycineta cyaneoviridis) is a poorly understood and endangered passerine that breeds on only three islands in the northern Bahamas. The project will investigate (1) the abundance, distribution and dispersal of T. cyaneoviridis populations, (2) life history strategies and characteristics of the species, and (3) how interactions with the habitat and other species may contribute to population declines. In collaboration with several organizations in the Bahamas, I will inform and engage local communities, and apply the essential information collected in this project to the development of effective strategies to conserve the Bahama Swallow and its breeding habitat.

This is Maya’s second Rufford Grant.  Her first grant helped to fund a summer of preliminary field research during summer 2014.  Read more about her first project here: http://www.rufford.org/projects/maya_wilson

Congratulations, Maya!