Academics
SWAMP
Shaw Woods Avian Monitoring Project
The Shaw Woods Avian Monitoring Project (S.W.A.M.P.) is a collaborative research project involving my lab at Lake Forest College, the Lake Forest Open Lands Association and members of the Lake Forest and greater Chicago area communities. The primary research goals are 1) to monitor population trends, and 2) to study the stopover ecology of Nearctic-Neotropical woodland migrant landbirds during spring migration. Another important goal of S.W.A.M.P. is to create a community-based research project that enhances public involvment in, and appreciation for biological research.
I owe special thanks to the Board of Lake Forest Open Lands Association for its assistance both in the field and in giving permission to use Shaw Woods as our study site. Thanks also to Ben Larsen ('07) for creating this website, to the other LFC students who have labored physically in the field and then intellectually in the lab to make this project run, and to the many other people who have volunteered their time and energy to help in the field, and who can verify that S.W.A.M.P. is a fitting acronym!