We’re heartbroken to share the information {that a} beloved workers member, Dr. Emma Greig, handed away final month from most cancers on the age of 43. Emma grew up in Michigan, earned her PhD on the College of Chicago, and carried out fieldwork around the globe. She got here to the Lab in 2010 as a postdoctoral fellow, turned a workers member in 2013, and led Project FeederWatch within the U.S. for greater than 10 years. She was a vibrant individual, an incisive and endlessly curious scientist, a caring chief, and a relaxed, humorous, and energetic presence all over the place she went.
Throughout her time main FeederWatch, she reworked the mission from a comparatively simple chicken depend to a multifaceted mission that delved into chicken conduct whereas additionally exploring the connections between birds and the individuals who watch them.
She was dedicated to Venture FeederWatch contributors, personally answering hundreds of e-mail inquiries and always advocating for his or her desires and wishes when planning the way forward for the mission. Throughout her tenure, annual participation in Venture FeederWatch roughly doubled, and Emma was usually an skilled voice on birding podcasts, webinars, and in newspaper and journal articles serving to folks join with birds and nature.
On the coronary heart of Emma’s management type was her calm perception that every one issues may be solved by taking a look at them with creativity and optimism. Employees members famous that she noticed issues not as obstacles to be averted however as puzzles to be investigated. In fixing these puzzles, she introduced a knack for specializing in the elements that actually mattered and a way of real curiosity that helped her discover imaginative options.
Emma had a lifelong love of finches, and had raised Gouldian Finches in her house since childhood—typically 100 or extra at a time. These brilliantly coloured pink, yellow, purple, and inexperienced songbirds are native to Australia and are broadly captive-bred and stored as pets. Each wild and captive people happen in lots of hanging coloration patterns, the idea of which continues to be poorly understood. Ever the curious scientist, Emma stored meticulous observe of the colour morphs and lineages of her personal birds, and she or he collaborated on a major paper concerning the genetic foundation of the phenomenon in 2019.
Her “finch fever” prolonged to different species as nicely: she joined a subject expedition in Australia to review Lengthy-tailed Finches; and whereas main a pupil expedition in Kenya marveled at species akin to Crimson-cheeked Cordonbleus and Purple Grenadiers that foraged round their base camp.
Along with her personal scientific work, Emma was a pure mentor with undergraduates. She had a particular love of the Desert Southwest, and for greater than a decade led pupil coaching expeditions to Organ Pipe Cactus Nationwide Monument. She had an incomparable ease with college students who have been taking their first steps into ornithology. Whether or not educating them new ideas or displaying them learn how to gently take a songbird out of a mist internet, she had an instinctive means of constructing all the pieces appear possible and accessible. She was additionally a wonderful sound recordist who taught sound evaluation workshops and contributed hundreds of recordings to the Macaulay Library archive.
Emma’s various analysis pursuits led her to creator or coauthor greater than 20 educational papers throughout her time on the Lab. She put FeederWatch knowledge to make use of in a broadly cited paper describing the range expansion of Anna’s Hummingbirds. Throughout her subject expeditions in Arizona she targeted on the Verdin, an interesting songbird that has no shut family in North America. Emma revealed about their singing behavior and mentored undergraduate pupil tasks targeted on this species. Throughout her postdoctoral work she crisscrossed Australia to review 9 species of fairywrens. In a collaboration with former Lab researcher Eliot Miller, she launched an possibility for FeederWatchers to document aggressive interactions between feeder birds. They used the ensuing knowledge to publish a continentwide hierarchy showing patterns of dominance amongst 136 species.
However past single accomplishments, it was Emma’s important spirit that made her such a treasured colleague. Emma had the present of listening to folks together with her full consideration, and at all times with an unflappable, encouraging spirit. She had the arrogance to embrace her passions and the keenness to make them contagious to others. And irrespective of the subject, Emma approached discussions with an unassuming but eager mind that appeared at all times capable of uncover new sides and insights.
We lengthen our deepest sympathies to these closest to Emma: her dad and mom, sister, companion, younger daughter, and to her many buddies and colleagues. We miss her dearly.
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