Talk: Featherweight Champions: What a bird’s body can teach us about resilience

September 9, 2025 (Tuesday), 7:00PM

LOCATION: Peter White Library, 217 N Front Street, Community Room
Presenter: Dr. Cory Elowe, Assistant Professor of Biology, NMU

Migratory birds have incredible physiology that allows them to make the perilous trip from their wintering grounds to their breeding grounds and back. This talk will highlight some of the research into their ecological physiology–the ways that the environment influences their function–to show how conservation efforts and physiology research go hand-in-hand. Dr. Cory Elowe is a new professor of biology at Northern Michigan University. Cory has spent the last 12 years studying the ways that animals endure stressful conditions. He focuses on the physiology of migratory and overwintering songbirds, using whole-animal energetics and molecular tools to understand how their flexible bodies allow them to withstand the challenges of migration and frigid weather.