Bar-tailed Godwits: A personal history of excessive flying

In this talk, Jesse Conklin will discuss how his own career in ornithology, including 18 years of research on Alaska-breeding Bar-tailed Godwits, has been irreparably entwined with the quest to understand just how far a bird can fly. Jesse will discuss how our understanding of the godwits’ incredible trans-Pacific migration has evolved over time with advancements in tracking technology, and how much we still don’t know.

Jesse Conklin grew up in southern California, and received a BSc in Graphic Design from San Jose State University in 1990. After learning that you could theoretically get paid to look at birds, he threw away his design career and went to Humboldt State University, where he received an MSc in Wildlife in 2005, studying Dunlin in Humboldt Bay. Continuing to study migratory shorebirds, he has worked extensively in Alaska, received a PhD in Ecology from Massey University in New Zealand in 2012, and did 10 years of post-doctoral research while based in The Netherlands. He was Editor-in-Chief of the ornithological journal Wader Study during 20152023. In 2022, Jesse moved back to Humboldt County, because it is just nicer than Europe.