Catherine Markham

amarkham@princeton.edu

Education
B.S. in Biology, Wake Forest University (1998)
M.A. in Biology, College of William and Mary (2004)

Research
My thesis research focused on the influence of salinity on nesting bald eagles in the lower Chesapeake Bay. During the 2002 and 2003 breeding seasons, we installed small security cameras directly above eagle nests and took weight measurements on young chicks. Data are currently being anlayzed to examine whether nests located in different salinity zones of the Bay vary in terms of diet, prey delivery, and nestling growth. Investigating the relationship between salinity and these parameters will help researchers to better understand the underlying ecosystem properties that determine core breeding areas for eagles, thus allowing for a more targeted management strategy of the species in the future.

To learn more about this research, click here to visit the website for the Bald Eagle Nest Video Monitoring Project.