SARA KROSS
I am a conservation biologist interested in human-modified landscapes, ecosystem services, human-wildlife conflicts, predator-prey dynamics, species translocations, and behavioral ecology. I am currently the Director of the Masters program in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology at Columbia University in New York City where I lead the Kross Conservation Lab, teach courses, and mentor students. I also have ongoing active research programs focusing on agroecology, wildlife behavior, urban ecology, and raptor ecology and ecotoxicology.
I serve on multiple faculty committees at Columbia, including the committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I am a member of the Science advisory board for the Wild Farm Alliance, an NGO that I also work with to produce educational materials, videos, and field-days related to bird-friendly farming. I am a reviewer for the Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellowship, and am an associate editor for PLoS One and a review editor for Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Frontiers in Environmental Science, and Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
I serve on multiple faculty committees at Columbia, including the committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. I am a member of the Science advisory board for the Wild Farm Alliance, an NGO that I also work with to produce educational materials, videos, and field-days related to bird-friendly farming. I am a reviewer for the Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellowship, and am an associate editor for PLoS One and a review editor for Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Frontiers in Environmental Science, and Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
BIO
Sara Kross, PhD, was born and raised in New York City. She completed a BSc in Animal Science at Cornell University (New York) and a MRes in Environmental Biology at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland). She completed her PhD in zoology at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, NZ, under the supervision of Ximena Nelson and Jason Tylianakis.
Sara's PhD research focused on the efficacy of reintroducing the threatened New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae) into the vineyards of Marlborough, New Zealand's largest wine growing region as both a conservation scheme and as a source of natural pest control for grapegrowers. This work combined behavioural ecology, ornithology, and conservation biology to examine the changes that have occurred as a result of the falcon reintroductions- in the falcons themselves and in the vineyard ecosystems. This work was featured in multiple news outlets, including as an episode on New Zealand's longest-running TV Show, Country Calendar. Dr. Kross was named a member of the University of Canterbury Inspirational Alumni in 2015.
Dr. Kross was a founding member of the Malborough Falcon Conservation Trust, where she was a member of the board of trustees from 2009-2013, served as the first programme manager. She was responsible for overseeing staff and volunteers, ensuring that permitting and husbandry adhered to guidelines, and writing management documents. Dr. Kross also helped design and build the trust's aviary. She also created, along with the Department of Conservation, a popular education programme in local schools and to local community groups, which is still in place today.
Sara moved back to the US in 2013, as a David H. Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellow where she used field experiments, landscape ecology and economics to quantify the value of wild birds to farmers in California with Rodd Kelsey of The Nature Conservancy, Jason Townsend of Hamilton College, and John Eadie in the Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology at UC Davis. She then worked as a postdoc with Roger Baldwin to construct predator-prey models with the aim of determining whether barn owls (Tyto alba) are able to control rodent pests on California farms. Dr. Kross was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at California State University, Sacramento for two years before returning to NYC to join the faculty at Columbia University. Dr. Kross has two young children who started accompanying her for field work and conferences at a very early age. Her husband, Hayden, is a winemaker.
Sara's PhD research focused on the efficacy of reintroducing the threatened New Zealand falcon (Falco novaeseelandiae) into the vineyards of Marlborough, New Zealand's largest wine growing region as both a conservation scheme and as a source of natural pest control for grapegrowers. This work combined behavioural ecology, ornithology, and conservation biology to examine the changes that have occurred as a result of the falcon reintroductions- in the falcons themselves and in the vineyard ecosystems. This work was featured in multiple news outlets, including as an episode on New Zealand's longest-running TV Show, Country Calendar. Dr. Kross was named a member of the University of Canterbury Inspirational Alumni in 2015.
Dr. Kross was a founding member of the Malborough Falcon Conservation Trust, where she was a member of the board of trustees from 2009-2013, served as the first programme manager. She was responsible for overseeing staff and volunteers, ensuring that permitting and husbandry adhered to guidelines, and writing management documents. Dr. Kross also helped design and build the trust's aviary. She also created, along with the Department of Conservation, a popular education programme in local schools and to local community groups, which is still in place today.
Sara moved back to the US in 2013, as a David H. Smith Conservation Research Postdoctoral Fellow where she used field experiments, landscape ecology and economics to quantify the value of wild birds to farmers in California with Rodd Kelsey of The Nature Conservancy, Jason Townsend of Hamilton College, and John Eadie in the Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology at UC Davis. She then worked as a postdoc with Roger Baldwin to construct predator-prey models with the aim of determining whether barn owls (Tyto alba) are able to control rodent pests on California farms. Dr. Kross was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at California State University, Sacramento for two years before returning to NYC to join the faculty at Columbia University. Dr. Kross has two young children who started accompanying her for field work and conferences at a very early age. Her husband, Hayden, is a winemaker.
