What's New at the CBC?
For more information about recent CBC activities and publications, check out our Progress Reports or Staff Publications page.
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April 13, 2026
NCEP Lunch & Learn: Conservation Museomics
The Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners held a brownbox lunch about an education resource on using museum specimens to answer conservation research questions. Access the material here.
March 31, 2026
New Publication: On tap, not on top: An urgent call for academia to support Indigenous science and equitable conservation
A short letterwas published in the Ecological Society of America (ESA) journal Earth Stewardship, co-authored by Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars. It articulates the importance of centering Indigenous-led conservation and science and biocultural approaches.
March 30, 2026
New Publication: When Invasions Collide: Minimal Indirect Effects of Invasive Snakes on Rodent-Mediated Seed Predation
A new paper by CBC postdoc Ann Marie Gawel and colleagues investigates whether invasive brown treesnakes have actually benefitted trees in Guam by reducing rodent seed predators.
March 27, 2026
NCEP & SCBNA Community Exchange: Climate Change and the Voice from the Classroom
NCEP hosted a community exchange in collaboration with the Society for Conservation Biology North America’s (SCBNA) Education Committee. The exchange centered on a perspective from Lessons in Conservation Volume 14, titles Climate Change and the Voice from the Classroom. The article was used as a springboard to connect educators and practitioners navigating similar issues and topics in their classrooms to help them reflect on students’ perspectives around climate change education.
March 2026
New Publication: The landscape of no worries? Increased recreation exposure decreases the landscape of human fear in wildlife
New research by Jaffe Chief Conservation Scientist Jesse Barber and colleagues finds that while unpredictable recreation noise can negatively affect wildlife, repeated exposure to sensory cues associated with human presence may help animals learn that some human activity is not a threat.
February 24, 2026
NCEP Lunch & Learn: Random Acts of Kindness
The Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners held a a virtual brownbag lunch to meet the author of an open-access teaching resource on creating community in the classroom. Access it here.
January 14, 2026
New Publication: A Standardized Definition of Rapid Evidence Assessment for Environmental Applications
In a new paper, CBC researchers and a diverse group of partners have developed a definition for Rapid Evidence Assessment, or REA. These are a type of rigorous assessments of evidence that aim to support decision-making on shorter time scales than what is often possible with the “gold-standard,” systematic reviews. The article provides a clear definition, which is key for consistency and confidence in the approach. The definition addresses the importance of rigor, multiple sources of evidence, the need for transparency around trade-offs and risks.
January 7, 2026
CBC Associate Director Mary E. Blair hosted the SciCafe "Reindeer and Resilience" along with Anders Oskal, Secretary General of World Reindeer Herders and the Director of the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry.
The conversation centered around the impacts of climate and land use change in the Arctic North and how Indigenous Sámi reindeer herders are navigating unprecedented environmental shifts. The sold-out SciCafe drew an engaged audience to Cullman Hall of the Universe, where Blair and Oskal shared how they are co-designing research to understand and enhance the resilience of Arctic Indigenous reindeer herders through monitoring solutions powered by Indigenous knowledge, with support from modern technologies such as drones and remote sensing from satellites.
December 5, 2025
NCEP Lunch & Learn: Using a Field Journal to Enhance Observation Skills
The Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners held a a virtual brownbag lunch to meet the author of an open-access teaching resource on noticing, observing, and recording the natural world. This exercise is designed to give students the opportunity to practice and refine their observation skills by keeping a field journal. Access it here.
December 4, 2025
CBC Fall Progress Update
The CBC Fall Progress Update is now available for download.
November 19, 2025
NCEP Lunch & Learn: Assess Land Cover Using Remote Sensing
The Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners held a a virtual brownbag lunch to meet the authors of the module Assess Land Cover Using Remote Sensing. This exercise is designed to introduce students to remote sensing technologies through a case study-based activity where they identify and map potential deforestation hotspots in a forest reserve in Ghana.
October 15-17, 2025
The Marshall M. Weinberg Student Conference on Conservation Science - New York
In 2025, the Marshall M. Weinberg Student Conference on Conservation Science-New York was joined by artist-in-residence Hara Woltz. Students created collaborative work reflecting on their roles as the next generation of conservation scientists. Online, the program included presentations, workshops, and dedicated mentoring offered with the aid of a custom conference website. Onsite activities included presentations, workshops, collection tours, and networking events. We engaged over 300 participants across all platforms, convening a vibrant conference that encompassed a diversity of voices and perspectives. To learn more about the SCCS-NY, visit: amnh.org/sccsny.
October 7, 2025
New publication: Species introductions shift seed dispersal potential more than extinctions across 120 island plant–frugivore communities
A new study co-authored by Ann Marie Gawel explores how extinctions and introductions are reshaping plant-animal relationships across 120 islands worldwide. These changes can disrupt how plants spread and regenerate, with ripple effects across entire ecosystems. Importantly, the study finds that species introductions are driving these shifts even more than extinctions, though the exact patterns vary across archipelagos, underscoring the local complexity within global trends.
September 25, 2025
AMNH Climate Assembly: As part of Climate Week NYC, the CBC teamed up with the Global Citizens’ Assembly, The Assembly Project, and The Hannah Arendt Center’s Democracy Innovation Hub to invite participants to roll up their sleeves and engage in a live, city-wide conversation about climate resilience. During an energizing 90-minute session, participants gathered in small groups to share their perspectives and hear from neighbors and strangers alike as they imagined how New Yorkers can adapt and thrive in a changing climate.
September 16, 2025
NCEP Lunch & Learn: Data Analysis in R to Gain Insights for Conservation: Examples from Long-Term Ecological Research
The Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners held a a virtual brownbag lunch to meet the author of an open-access teaching resource on R programming language and ecological research. This exercise is designed to introduce students to R & RStudio by using real ecological datasets to guide learners in key techniques for data wrangling and data visualization.
August 18, 2025
New publication: Nunakut naguatun atugluu/Co-stewardship: Co-production’ through the lens of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change’s Human Wellbeing Team
Nunakut Naguatun Atugluu, or, "TAKE CARE OF OUR LAND"
A new PLOS Climate paper from CBC Associate Director Mary E. Blair and colleagues highlights the importance of Indigenous-led stewardship in addressing Arctic environmental and social challenges, and offers a model for collaborative governance grounded in respect and reciprocity—equitable not only for people, but also for lands, waters, and our more-than-human relatives. Read the full paper for their successes, challenges, and opportunities in co-stewardship.
August 8, 2025
NCEP Lunch & Learn: Oysters in the City: Analyzing Data to Guide Coastal Restoration in New York City
The Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners held a webinar to meet the authors of an open-access teaching resource on data analysis and community science. Learn more here.
August 5-6, 2025
SCB North America's Conservation Education Forum
CBC scientists helped organize and participated in a conservation education forum held by the Education Committee of the Society for Conservation Biology North America (SCBNA). The Forum connected educators seeking to share and gain pedagogical support for fostering outstanding practices, and provided space for new connections. Suzanne Macey presented NCEP materials to the attendees at the end of each day.
August 1, 2025
New publication: Multiple bursts of speciation in Madagascar’s endangered lemurs
A new paper, co-authored by CBC Associate Director Mary E. Blair, finds that multiple bursts of speciation can help explain lemurs' extraordinary diversity. Their research suggests that hybridization in lemurs is not an evolutionary dead-end, but potential fuel for diversification. With ~95% of lemur species threatened with extinction, these findings provide fresh insight into how Madagascar’s primate diversity evolved and highlight patterns of speciation, extinction, and gene flow that can inform future conservation strategies.
July 21-23, 2025
BIOME 2025: Catalyst for Change: Empowering Faculty to Move Forward Together
The NCEP team presented in BIOME 2025, an online conference held by BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium surrounding innovation in STEMM education. Suzanne Macey, Nadav Gazit, Riley Trist, and Martha Groom shared their poster on Lessons in Conservation and the NCEP module collection.
July 1, 2025
CBC Spring Progress Update
The CBC Spring Progress Update is now available for download.
May 4, 2025
Mack Lipkin Panel: Humans and Nature in the Arctic: Indigenous Perspectives
The 2025 Mack Lipkin Man and Nature Series Panel Discussion was part of the Margaret Mead Film Festival, a three-day celebration of voices and perspectives from around the world, by inviting attendees to explore the richness of human experience as a part of the natural world. Moderated by associate director Mary Blair, the panelists Vera Solovyeva and Maidi Eira Andersson shared Indigenous perspectives on kinship with nature, rooted in the traditions of the Arctic.
April 30, 2025
New publication: Lessons in Conservation, Volume 14: Diverse Skills in Conservation
NCEP has published a new volume of their open-access journal Lessons in Conservation. This new issue, Diverse Skills in Conservation, covers topics from practicing direct observation, to utilizing data—both gathered by citizen scientists and from long-term ecological datasets—to using remote sensing tools. This issue also includes a synthesis document and two exercises that provide background theory and practical logistics of conducting conservation museomics projects. These materials are contextualized by two perspectives which help situate this work in the current moment—calling on educators to incorporate student voices and make small, meaningful changes to foster hope in conservation practice.
April 7, 2025
New publication: Introgressive hybridization and a natural barrier: Molecular analyses lay out a conservation blueprint for the critically endangered Vietnamese pond turtle (Mauremys annamensis)
A new paper co-authored by CBC Associate Director Dr. Mary Blair offers critical genetic insights to support the recovery of the critically endangered Vietnamese Pond Turtle (Mauremys annamensis), a species now virtually extirpated in the wild. The study confirms that M. annamensis is a distinct species with two evolutionarily significant and geographically isolated lineages—highlighting the need for genetic screening of captive individuals before any reintroduction efforts.
April 1, 2025
New publication: Assessing land cover in forest reserves using remote sensing tools
In this new NCEP module, Students will: develop skills in Collect Earth Online, ArcGIS Online, and QGIS; analyze satellite imagery to detect land cover changes; identify potential deforestation hotspots within a forest reserve; and critically evaluate implications of land cover changes to inform real-world conservation efforts.
March 31, 2025
New publication: 50 years of invertebrate conservation under the United States Endangered Species Act—history and threats to species
What can 50 years of invertebrate listing documents under the U.S. Endangered Species Act tell us? A new paper co-authored by CBC postdoc Ann Marie Gawel and colleagues uses AI-powered text mining to find patterns across ESA listing documents, identifying key threats facing both aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates — from pollution and dams to invasive species and climate change.
March 27, 2025
New publication: Enabling participatory monitoring and evaluation: Insights for conservation practitioners and organizations
Conservation efforts are more ethical and effective when local communities have a central role in shaping them. But how can practitioners and organizations support participatory monitoring and evaluation (PME) in ways that are practical and meaningful? In a new paper, Amanda Sigouin and other CBC colleagues explore three key themes for effective PME: navigating collaborations, working within diverse cultural contexts, and co-managing PME resources.
March 26, 2025
Dr. Mary Blair moderated the open session “Bridging Worlds: Power of Knowledge Co-Production” at Arctic Science Summit Week in Boulder, CO, USA. This discussion explored the collaborative potential of Indigenous knowledge and scientific research in Arctic studies.
March 24, 2025
New publication: Oysters in the City: Analyzing data to guide coastal restoration in New York City
The Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners released a new open access educational material. Developed with real-world data from Billion Oyster Project, the exercise helps students connect to visual and numerical summaries used in annual oyster monitoring reports.
