Tara K. Miller – The Conversation

A red-tailed hawk with a broken wing at the New England Wildlife Center in Weymouth, Mass. John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

November 22, 2023

Digitized records from wildlife centers show the most common ways that humans harm wild animals

Tara K. Miller, University of Virginia and Richard B. Primack, Boston University

Hundreds of wildlife rehabilitation centers across the US and Canada treat sick and injured animals and birds. Digitizing their records is yielding valuable data on human-wildlife encounters.

Native wildflowers, such as these Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) that bloom early in spring are losing access to sunlight as trees leaf out earlier. Katja Schulz/Flickr

March 14, 2023

Climate change threatens spring wildflowers by speeding up the time when trees leaf out above them

Richard B. Primack, Boston University; Benjamin R. Lee, University of Pittsburgh, and Tara K. Miller, University of Virginia

Many beloved wildflowers bloom in early spring, while trees are still bare and the flowers have access to sunlight. Climate change is throwing trees and wildflowers out of sync.

Scientists have used author Henry David Thoreau’s notes to inform studies of climate change in eastern Massachusetts. Tom Stohlman/Flickr

October 26, 2022

By fact‑checking Thoreau’s observations at Walden Pond, we showed how old diaries and specimens can inform modern research

Tara K. Miller, Boston University; Abe Miller-Rushing, National Park Service, and Richard B. Primack, Boston University

Journals, museum collections and other historical sources can provide valuable data for modern ecological studies. But just because a source is old doesn’t make it useful.

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