January 11, 2024
By: Bryan Watts1/2/2024 There is something inspirational about walking through a Frank Lloyd Wright house or inspecting a George Nakashima bench. The organic lines and wholeness […]
October 4, 2023
By: Chance Hines10/5/23 While temperatures outside continue soaring, the shortening days and falling leaves remind us that autumn is nearing. This time of year also finds […]
October 3, 2023
By: Bryan Watts10/1/23 We sat together in silence as if in a Quaker meeting. He perched on a limb next to a large nest and me […]
October 3, 2023
By: Bryan Watts9/29/23 The yellow-crowned night-heron has found its sweet spot along the Lafayette River in Norfolk, VA. The species expanded its breeding range north along […]
October 3, 2023
By: Bryan Watts9/29/23 Along the Atlantic coast there are few sounds that mark the coming of spring as much as the raucous calls of laughing gulls. […]
September 29, 2023
By: Bryan Watts9/29/2023 By the early 1990s, the conservation community had reached a critical point of decision about the future of the red-cockaded woodpecker in Virginia. […]
July 8, 2023
By: Bryan Watts7/6/2023 There was a time when The Center was new and Marian was there. Marian was there when The Center was just an idea, […]
July 8, 2023
By: Bryan Watts7/4/2023 Shenandoah National Park has championed the reintroduction of peregrine falcons back into their historic breeding range in the mountains of Virginia. Since 1989, […]
July 8, 2023
By: Bryan Watts7/5/2023 Over the past few years, I have received questions from homeowners, watermen and keen observers around the lower Chesapeake Bay about osprey. Waterfront […]
July 8, 2023
By: Bryan Watts6/28/2023 In recent months CCB biologists have published several papers in academic journals. These articles report on recent findings and are intended to spread […]
June 1, 2023
By: Chance Hines5/30/2023 Center for Conservation Biology researchers have a long history of trudging through coastal marshes studying a variety of bird taxa including shorebirds, wading […]
March 29, 2023
By: Chance Hines3/29/23 For the sparrows of the marsh, the worst of winter has passed. In Virginia, the 2022-2023 winter was relatively warm, but temperatures did […]
March 29, 2023
By: Bryan Watts3/27/23 Following the complete extirpation of peregrine falcons in eastern North America during the DDT era, the eastern peregrine recovery team made the bold […]
March 29, 2023
By: Bryan Watts3/27/23 The eastern black rail has experienced a dramatic decline including both a 450-kilometer contraction of the northern range limit and a hollowing out […]
March 29, 2023
By: Bryan Watts3/27/23 As Covid-19 began to wane during the summer of 2022 and as Dr. Byrd (Chancellor Professor Emeritus) celebrated his 94th birthday we felt […]
March 21, 2023
By: Bryan Watts3/20/23 A Carolina wren sings from the edge of myrtle with a heart as big as a day moon. The wind has dropped out […]
January 11, 2023
By: Chance Hines1/9/23 During late autumn, a biologist from The Center for Conservation Biology (CCB) approaches a cavity created by a red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) at Piney […]
January 11, 2023
By: Bryan Watts1/11/23 We often think of animal behaviors as static species traits. While some behaviors such as courtship rituals may be stylized and relatively robust […]
January 11, 2023
By: Bryan Watts1/10/23 The Virginia breeding population of peregrine falcons continued its climb in 2022 with a modern record of 34 known breeding pairs. The record […]
January 10, 2023
By: Bryan Watts1/10/23 The song sparrow is likely the most polytypic species in North America if not the world. More than 50 subspecies have been proposed […]
January 9, 2023
By: Bryan Watts1/6/2023 Our nation stands as a house divided against itself. Somewhere along the way we have lost our sense of common purpose. We increasingly […]
October 6, 2022
By: Bryan Watts10/5/22 CCB has formed a collaborative with Dominion Energy and The Nature Conservancy to better understand the risks posed by offshore wind facilities to […]
October 6, 2022
By: Chance Hines10/4/2022 The bayside of Virginia’s Eastern Shore supports some of the most extensive saltmarsh habitat in the state and has been designated as an […]
October 6, 2022
By: Chance Hines10/4/2022 Autumn approaches and, sensing this seasonal shift, migratory songbirds throughout our region begin making their way towards wintering destinations as far away as […]