#14: Brian Sullivan - eBird, Birds of the World, and the Intersection of Technology with Birding and Ornithological Media

My guest in this episode is Brian Sullivan.

Brian is a long-time leader at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, where he currently serves as Digital Publications Lead, managing the Birds of the World project, and he has previously served as project leader for eBird from 2005 to 2017.

Brian has conducted fieldwork on birds throughout North America for the past 25 years.  Birding travels, photography, and field projects have taken him around the world, and he has written or coauthored several books and scientific papers including: Better Birding—Tips, Tools, and Concepts for the Field; The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors; and the forthcoming Princeton Guide to North American Birds. He is co-creator of the groundbreaking Raptor Id app for mobile devices, and he also served as photographic editor for the American Birding Association’s journal North American Birds from 2005-2013.

Today we discuss many of these topics, including the transformation of eBird into a global ornithological resource, developing and launching the Birds of the World project, which is the definitive resource for all 10721 bird species and has an exciting future roadmap ahead. We also discuss the forthcoming Princeton Guide to North American Birds, which is a project 15 years in the making.

Brian’s experiences in print media and cutting-edge online media give him a visionary’s perspective for the future of online resources for scientists and birders alike. We spend time discussing how remote sensing, phone sensing, and augmented reality might accelerate community awareness of and engagement with the environment. And this may come about sooner than one might think.

FULL SHOW NOTES

Links and References from the Episode:
Chris Wood - an early partner of Brian's at eBird
Derby Hill Hawk Watch
Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania
Jack Conner - taught a college Biology of Birds course that helped re-ignite Brian's interest
Paul Lehman - editor of Birding Magazine when Brian published his first article
Birds of the World - Cornell's comprehensive resource for all 10,721 of the world's birds
Birding Magazine - The American Birding Association's (ABA) magazine
BirdNET App - identify birds by sound
The Australian Bird Guide
Collins Birds of Europe  (link to the USA publication)
Crossley Guides - Richard Crossley's series of photo collage guides that Brian references (and co-author of the Raptor ID Guide)
eBird
Merlin Bird ID - free app and part of the Cornell Lab's ecosystem of resources
National Geographic's Birds of North America
Princeton University Press - A leader in quality nature and field guides
Raptor ID App - created and published by Brian and Jerry Liguori
Season at the Point: The Birds and Birders of Cape May - by Thomas Connor
The Sibley Guide to Birds [East] [West]