Our goal is to enhance the understanding of seabird ecology in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. We study the breeding biology, survival, and foraging and spatial ecology of nearshore and pelagic seabirds at sea or on their breeding grounds.
Our most recent studies focus on distributions and habitat use at sea, including foraging trip characteristics and how these differ throughout the annual cycle, foraging site fidelity at sea, migration routes, interactions of seabirds with energy infrastructure in the offshore environment, and use of Marine Protected Areas. We do this by using the full range of tracking technologies that are available including satellite tags, geolocators, GPS, as well as color banding and molecular markings.
We work closely with the Atlantic Marine Bird Cooperative, the Gulf of Mexico Avian Monitoring Network and BirdsCaribbean. Together, our research extends from the South Atlantic Bight of the U.S. through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The birds we study disperse throughout the North Atlantic and, as such, our research uniquely covers a significant portion of our Earth's oceans.
Team members
Patrick Jodice
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Pat is the Leader of the USGS South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Clemson University. Pat is the PI on a variety of projects in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Southeastern US focused on Brown Pelican, Audubon's Shearwater, Black-capped Petrel, Magnificent Frigatebird, Masked Booby, Red-billed Tropicbird, and White-tailed Tropicbird. Pat is the former Chair of the World Seabird Union.
pjodice <at> clemson.edu
Juliet Lamb
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Juliet is a Marine Biologist at the Nature Conservancy. Juliet did her doctoral research on the spatial ecology and breeding biology of Brown Pelican in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and she published several articles on tag effects, juvenile survival, foraging strategy and diet, stress hormones, migration, and habitat modelling.
juliet.lamb <at> tnc.org
Yvan Satgé
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Yvan is a research associate at Clemson University / South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Yvan's research focuses on Black-capped Petrel, and he participates in the study of Brown Pelican, Red-billed Tropicbird, and Audubon's Shearwater. Yvan is a co-chair of the BirdsCaribbean Seabird Working Group.
​ysatge <at> clemson.edu
Pamela Michael
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Pamela is a post-doctoral researcher at Clemson University / South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. She has worked with vessel-based surveys from the Pacific, southern Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. She is currently analyzing seabird observation data collected during the GoMMAPPS study.
pemicha <at> clemson.edu
Bradley Wilkinson​
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Brad is a post-doctoral researcher at Duke University. Brad did his doctoral research at Clemson University / South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, on the spatial and disturbance ecology of Brown Pelicans in the southeastern US. He is currently working on the analytics of movement in marine mammals.
bpwilki <at> clemson.edu
Kathy Hixson
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Kathy is a research associate at Clemson University / South Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Her work focuses on developing a registry and atlas of seabird colonies in the northern Gulf of Mexico, in cooperation with the Gulf of Mexico Avian Monitoring Network.
kmhixso <at> clemson.edu
Current and former graduate students
MS (2006), PhD (2011)
MS (2007)
MS (2008)
MS (2010)
MS (2015)
PhD (2016)
MS (2017)
MS (2019)
PhD (2021)
Collaborators
Felicia Sanders
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, South Carolina, USA​
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Felicia is a coastal biologist at SC DNR. We have collaborated with her on a variety of projects, from studies of pelican nesting biology to shorebird foraging.
Ernst Rupp
Grupo Jaragua
Dominican Republic​
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Grupo Jaragua is a Dominican environmental NGO whose mission is to conserve the biodiversity of the island of Hispaniola through scientific research and community participation.
We collaborate with project leader Ernst Rupp on the study of Black-capped Petrel.
Autumn-Lynn Harrison
Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center
USA
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Autumn-Lynn Harrison is the Program Manager of the Migratory Connectivity Project and a research scientist at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. Over the years, she has collaborated with us on the analysis of GPS and GLS tracking data for several of our studies.
Will Mackin
TerraMar Applied Sciences
The Bahamas, Tobago
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Will is a zoologist and conservation biologist who has worked to protect seabirds in the wider Caribbean region throughout his career. Since 1998, Will has collaborated with Caribbean naturalists to identify and inventory seabird breeding sites across the West Indies (www.wicbirds.net).
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Hannah Madden
Caribbean Netherlands Science Institute, Sint Eustatius
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Hannah has been studying the nesting ecology of Red-billed Tropicbirds on St. Eustatius since 2012 and has lead our collaboration on the study of this charismatic species.
Adam Brown
Environmental Protection in the Caribbean, Sint Maarten
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Anderson Jean
Jeunes en Action pour la Sauvegarde de l'Ecologie en Haïti, Haiti
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Adam Brown and Anderson Jean are experts in Black-capped Petrel conservation in Haiti.
International Black-capped Petrel Conservation Group
Co-chairs: Jennifer Wheeler and
Hannah Nevins
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The IBCG regroups stakeholders interested in the conservation of this charismatic but understudied species. Our research is used to inform conservation plans for the species.
https://www.birdscaribbean.org/our-work/black-capped-petrel-working-group/
Jeffrey Gleason
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Gulf Restoration Office
USA
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Jeff is the current Gulf of Mexico Migratory Bird Coordinator for USFWS. While at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, he instigated our Brown pelican research in the Gulf of Mexico. He is now a co-principal investigator for the GoMMAPPS study.
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J. Christopher Haney
Terra Mar Applied Sciences, LLC
USA
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Chris is an expert seabird ecologist and oceanographer. We have collaborated with him on a variety of projects. He is currently a co-principal investigator for the GoMMAPPS study.