Conservation biologist Joanna Wu, an alumna of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, is shining a bright spotlight on the study of North American songbirds. In her current research as a doctoral student at the University of California, Los Angeles, she is analyzing the survival rates of songbirds to better understand why male birds tend to have a longer lifespan than female birds.
“I went back to school because I was really compelled by this question of, ‘What’s the deal with female birds? What else do we not know,’” Wu said.
Now she’s making her own flight path into the study of female wild birds and their importance to conservation work.
Passion path
Her passion for birds began during fieldwork at UC Berkeley. She later chose UH Hilo for her master’s degree in the tropical conservation biology and environmental science program, drawn by Hawaiʻi’s native birds.
At UH Hilo, she studied the ʻōmaʻo, a native thrush essential for spreading seeds and supporting forest health.
“There’s a unique problem with Hawaiʻi, of course, with avian conservation,” said Wu. “So I felt like it would be a good place to go and learn about that, and I’m really glad I did.”
‘I learned to be a scientist’
Hawaiʻi biologist, Professor Patrick Hart, founder of UH Hilo’s Listening Observatory for Hawaiian Ecosystems, commonly called LOHE Lab, was among her thesis advisors.
During her time at UH Hilo, she tracked ʻōmaʻo movements in comparison to the warbling white-eye, a non-native bird sometimes studied to understand its role in local ecosystems, especially its potential impact on native bird species.
Wu said the university was an important part of her journey, a “great foundation” for her current work and personal development. “I certainly found adequate support academically; I learned to be a scientist there.”
Wu’s research continues to focus on bird conservation. She has helped launch The Galbatross Project, an initiative promoting awareness of female birds.
For more go to UH Hilo Stories.
—By Sophia Kim-O’Sullivan
