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Climate change ecology is an exciting and rapidly developing field, and our results often grab headlines
“Cohen, J. and Jetz, W. 2025. Fine-grain predictions are key to accurately represent continental-scale biodiversity patterns.”
The Wildlife Society: The finer side of predicting biodiversity patterns. 1/20/2025.
Yale BGC Center: High-resolution models most accurately capture bird biodiversity patterns, new study finds. 1/6/2025.
Rohr, J.R., Mahon, M.B., Sack, A., …Cohen, J., et al. 2024. “A meta-analysis on global change drivers and the risk of infectious disease.”
New York Times: Environmental Changes Are Fueling Human, Animal and Plant Diseases, Study Finds. 5/8/2024
Washington Post: How climate change is raising the risks of another pandemic. 5/8/2024
The Guardian: Biodiversity loss is biggest driver of infectious disease outbreaks, says study. 5/8/2024
Notre Dame Newswire: As humans change the globe, they also influence the transmission of diseases, an extensive study in Nature shows. 5/8/2024
Cohen, J. and Jetz, W. 2023. “Strategies of seasonal environmental niche tracking at hemispheric scale.”
YaleNews: Study reveals how birds track environmental conditions across the seasons. 7/19/2023
The Wildlife Society: Small, Migratory Birds may be Vulnerable to Climate Change. 8/21/2023
Technology Networks: Migratory Bird Study Could Identify Species Most at Risk From Climate Change. 7/20/2023
Futurity: How birds track their weather ‘niche’. 7/21/2023
Tech Explorist: Birds track environmental conditions seasonally. 7/20/2023
Cohen, J., Fink, D., Zuckerberg, B. 2021. “Extreme winter weather disrupts bird occurrence and abundance patterns at geographic scales.”
UW-Madison News: Polar vortex, winter heat may change bird populations. 6/3/2021
The Wildlife Society: Winter weather extremes may kill off bird populations 6/3/2021
Environmental News Network: Polar Vortex, Winter Heat May Change Bird Populations. 6/4/2021
Cohen, J., Sauer, E., Santiago, O., Spencer, S., Rohr, J.R. 2020. “Divergent impacts of warming weather on wildlife disease risk across climates.”
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Climate change hastens disease spread across the globe. 2/9/2022
Reuters: Wildlife diseases poised to spread northwards as climate changes: study. 11/19/2020
MSN: Climate Change Will Push Wildlife Diseases Further Up North, Warns New Study. 11/20/2020
Yahoo news: Wildlife diseases poised to spread northwards as climate changes - study. 11/20/2020
The Wildlife Society: Changing climate may worsen wildlife disease outbreaks. 12/1/2020
Japan times: Wildlife diseases poised to spread northwards as climate changes. 11/20/2020
India times: Climate Change Will Push Wildlife Diseases Further Up North, Warns New Study. 11/21/2020
Cohen, J., Fink, D., Zuckerberg, B. 2020. “Avian responses to extreme weather across functional traits and temporal scales.”
NASA Earth: How Birds Respond to Extreme Weather. 8/19/2020
(extended version at NASA Earthdata)
eBird: eBird data suggests not all North American birds can beat the heat. 9/4/2020
The Wildlife Society: Bird numbers change with the weather. 9/4/2020
UW-Madison news: Understanding how birds respond to extreme weather can inform conservation efforts. 8/21/2020
Inside ecology: Understanding how birds respond to extreme weather can inform conservation efforts. 8/24/2020
Wisconsin Public Radio interview: 9/17/2020
Cohen, J., Lajeunesse, M., Rohr, J. 2018. “A global synthesis of animal phenological responses to climate change.”
National Wildlife Magazine: Out of Sync: As climate change shifts the timing of life-cycle events, mismatches between species threaten wildlife from whales to birds and butterflies. 3/31/2023
National Geographic: Some animals can adapt to climate change—just not fast enough. 8/19/2019
E&E News: Animals change behavior as temperatures rise. 2/6/2018
Innovation Toronto: Entire ecosystems are being thrown out of whack by changing weather patterns.
Florida Climate Institute: Nature's Delicate Balancing Act. 2/5/2018
Mordecai, E., Cohen, J., et al. 2017. “Predicting human cases of Zika, dengue and chikungunya using mechanistic temperature models.”
Reuters: Move over malaria: Mosquitoes carrying Zika, dengue may thrive in warmer Africa. 9/21/2017
Orlando Sentinel: Zika Update: USF, Sanford publish new findings. 5/19/2017
NPR: Will Climate Change Help Ticks And Mosquitoes Spread Disease? 4/21/2017
NBC Bay Area: Stanford Researchers Examine How Warming Temps May Help Spread Mosquito-Borne Diseases. 5/3/2017
ABC Action News: 'Mosquito fish' could help you prevent a Zika outbreak in the Tampa Bay region. 5/12/2017
Cohen, J., et al. 2016. “Spatial scale modulates the strength of ecological processes driving disease distributions.”
News-Medical: Diverse ecological processes at different spatial scales may drive three emerging disease outbreaks. 5/31/2016
Civitello, D., Cohen, J., et al. 2015. “Biodiversity inhibits natural enemies: broad evidence for the dilution effect.”
NPR: Save Wildlife, Save Yourself? 6/26/2015
Take Part: Saving Wildlife Is Good for Your Health. 6/19/2015
Earth Island Journal: Biodiversity Limits Disease Outbreaks Among Humans and Wildlife. 8/31/2015