Sheela Turbek

Sheela received her B.A. in Biology & Spanish from Bowdoin College and her Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder. As a graduate student, she studied the breeding behavior and ecological requirements of the southern capuchino seedeaters, a group of birds that has rapidly diversified within the grasslands of South America. Following her Ph.D., she worked as a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Colorado State University, where she studied how neotropical migratory birds are responding to global environmental change. Her research has focused on incorporating information on patterns of migratory connectivity and genetic variation into conservation planning to more effectively conserve migratory birds across their full annual cycle.