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 all over the world. She got here to the Lab in 2010 as a postdoctoral fellow, grew to become a workers member in 2013, and led Undertaking 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 peaceful, humorous, and energetic presence all over the place she went.
Throughout her time main FeederWatch, she remodeled the mission from a comparatively simple chicken rely to a multifaceted mission that delved into chicken habits whereas additionally exploring the connections between birds and the individuals who watch them.
She was dedicated to Undertaking FeederWatch members, personally answering hundreds of e mail inquiries and continuously advocating for his or her desires and desires when planning the way forward for the mission. Throughout her tenure, annual participation in Undertaking FeederWatch roughly doubled, and Emma was typically an knowledgeable voice on birding podcasts, webinars, and in newspaper and journal articles serving to individuals join with birds and nature.
On the coronary heart of Emma’s management model 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 residence 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 saved as pets. Each wild and captive people happen in lots of hanging colour patterns, the idea of which remains to be poorly understood. Ever the curious scientist, Emma saved meticulous monitor of the colour morphs and lineages of her personal birds, and she or he collaborated on a significant paper in regards to the genetic foundation of the phenomenon in 2019.
Her “finch fever” prolonged to different species as nicely: she joined a area expedition in Australia to review Lengthy-tailed Finches; and whereas main a pupil expedition in Kenya marveled at species equivalent to Pink-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 exhibiting them methods to gently take a songbird out of a mist web, she had an instinctive manner of constructing every thing appear possible and accessible. She was additionally a wonderful sound recordist who taught sound evaluation workshops and contributed a whole lot of recordings to the Macaulay Library archive.
Emma’s different analysis pursuits led her to writer or coauthor greater than 20 educational papers throughout her time on the Lab. She put FeederWatch information to make use of in a broadly cited paper describing the vary enlargement of Anna’s Hummingbirds. Throughout her area expeditions in Arizona she targeted on the Verdin, an enchanting songbird that has no shut family members in North America. Emma revealed about their singing habits and mentored undergraduate pupil initiatives 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 information to publish a continentwide hierarchy exhibiting 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 reward of listening to individuals along 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 in a position to uncover new sides and insights.
We prolong our deepest sympathies to these closest to Emma: her mother and father, sister, associate, younger daughter, and to her many associates and colleagues. We miss her dearly.
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