Wendy Dorman is determined to map a brighter future for grassland birds. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign doctoral student will use a $150,000 investment from NASA to develop robust maps of grassland habitat across the Midwest and beyond. Her goal is to understand the species-specific habitat factors that matter most to imperiled birds and optimize strategies for their conservation.  

“I grew up in the Midwest surrounded by forests and grasslands, and as a kid I was constantly hiking and exploring the wonderland of biodiversity that was the outdoors. Many of the areas I explored are now developments, and likewise across the United States, large contiguous grasslands have dwindled. Yet despite experiencing massive reductions in their habitats over the past hundred years, grassland birds persist,” said Dorman, who studies in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Illinois.

While smaller grassland fragments remain, many are too small and transient to show up on existing habitat maps. Dorman thinks if she can identify where these remaining fragmented grasslands are — on a large scale — she and other researchers can quantify the characteristics and thresholds that contribute to the survival of individual species and uncover how best to provide targeted support.

Dorman received the prestigious three-year research grant in the Earth Sciences division of the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program. The program is designed to identify and support future leaders in STEM fields. Dorman’s project was one of 57 selected, among more than 400 applicants. 

If it’s not clear how grassland birds relate to the national space agency, Dorman will leverage satellite data as part of her cross-scale remote sensing plan. She will integrate habitat data from the ground with airborne and satellite remote sensing to build the most robust view of grasslands ever developed. From there, Dorman will layer on bird presence and abundance data. Together, these data will explain how birds use grassland landscapes and which habitat factors are most important, a major knowledge gap for many grassland species.

While Dorman will focus first on Midwest grasslands, the idea is to create a cross-scale modeling framework that can be replicated in other regions, eventually encompassing the entire continental U.S. 

“A publicly available grassland land cover dataset does not exist at the scale needed for researchers and decision makers to develop species-level management strategies. Understanding the gap between what birds need and what exists could be a game-changer for grassland bird habitats,” said Dorman. “We’re already seeing interest in partnering with us from land managers in other regions.” 

Dorman’s faculty advisor, Mike Ward, said, “Grasslands are disappearing at an alarming rate, particularly due to conversion to agriculture. Understanding where grasslands are, how they’re doing, and what impact they have on grassland birds is a critical first step to mitigating the impacts of human-driven land use change.” Ward is an NRES professor and the Levenick Chair in Sustainability.