Margaret Rubega
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut
margaret.rubega@uconn.edu
rubegalab.uconn.edu
860-486-4502
@ProfRubega
Research Interests:
| I am a functional and integrative biologist; I study a diverse array of birds, across a variety of habitats. All my work is unified by an interest in answering the questions How Does That Work? and How Does it Matter? I approach questions in avian conservation, ecology and evolution mechanistically, integrating tools from functional morphology, biomechanics, physiology, and animal behavior as necessary to produce explanations for why birds look, live and act as they do. Wherever possible, I aim to contribute to avian conservation by identifying, explicitly and quantitatively, the mechanical limits to the ability of birds to adjust to environmental change. A parallel, and growing, component of my work is in science communication, and in the evidence-based training of STEM graduate students to communicate with the press, policy-makers, and the public.
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Education:
| 1993 | Ph.D., Biology. University of California, Irvine. Dissertation: The functional morphology and ecology of feeding in Phalaropus lobatus, the red-necked phalarope. Advisor: George V. Lauder. Committee: Timothy Bradley, George L. Hunt, Jr.
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| 1983 | B.S., Biology. Southern Connecticut State University. |
Academic Appointments:
| 2017 –
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Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut.
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| 2023 – | Research Associate, Division of Zoology, American Museum of Natural History.
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| 2006 – 2017 | Associate Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut.
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| 1998 – 2005 | Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut.
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| 1998 – present | Connecticut State Ornithologist
Curator, Ornithology Collections, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut
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| 1997 – 1998 | Research Assistant Professor, Environmental & Resource Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno.
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| 1993-1997 | Postdoctoral Research Associate, Environmental & Resource Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno. |
Notable Awards, Honors, Fellowships
| 2021 | Elected Fellow, American Ornithological Society
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| 2018 | Elective Member, American Ornithological Society
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| 2016 | UConn AAUP Excellence Award, Teaching: Career.
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| 2005 | Leopold Leadership Fellowship. Based at the Stanford Institute for the Environment, the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program provides mid-career scientists with intensive communications and leadership training to enhance their ability to communicate complex scientific information to non-scientific audiences, especially policy makers, the media, business leaders and the public. Twenty Fellows are selected annually through a competitive application process. I was the first ever to be chosen while not yet tenured.
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| 1991 | Switzer Graduate Environmental Fellowship: $10,000 for excellence in research leading to habitat restoration or environmental conservation.
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| 1990 | Edward A. Steinhaus Teaching Award, for excellence in teaching to undergraduates by a graduate student in the Biological Sciences, at the University of California, Irvine.
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| 1990 | Best Student Paper Award: Annual Meeting of the American Ornithologists’ Union; won for the delivery of my first-ever presentation at a professional meeting.
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Grants
External
| 2023 | $217, 784 | Long Island Sound Futures Fund, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation: Restoring Habitat for Terns on Great Gull Island; Implementation of an Invasive Plant Management Plan.
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| 2021 | $400,000 | Long Island Sound Futures Fund, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation: Defending a Jewel of the Sound: Planning for Resilience to Climate Change and Enhancing Adaptive Management on Great Gull Island, NY. PI: M. Rubega
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| 2020 | $2,998,984 | DGE-NSF-NRT: Building Resilient Landscapes for Food, Energy, Water, and Ecosystems in America’s Original Megalopolis. Mark Urban, PI: M. Rubega, Co-PI; S. Pickett, Co-PI; C. Zhang, Co-PI; M. Castillo-Montoya, Co-PI and Evaluator.
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| 2019 | $2000 | Jeff Maurer Chautaqua Research Fund: Phalarope population trends in the Great Basin: review and comparison of historic and contemporary methods and results. R. Carle, PI, and M.A. Rubega, co-PI.
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| $9000 | Tracy Aviary Conservation Fund: Filling critical data gaps for phalarope conservation: coordinated surveys at Great Basin saline lakes. R. Carle PI and M.A. Rubega, co-PI
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| $9500 | California State Parks Special Stewardship Fund: Mono Lake Phalarope Surveys, 2020. R. Carle PI and M.A. Rubega, co-PI | |
| $10,000 | (6/2019 – 8/2019) Switzer Network Innovation Grant: Convening a working group to propel regional and international conservation research on Wilson’s and red-necked phalaropes. R. Carle, PI and M.A. Rubega, co-PI
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| 2015 | $499,213 | (7/2015 – 8/2019) NSF NRT-IGE: Training STEM Graduates to Communicate in the Digital Age and Measuring Whether It Works. M. Rubega, PI (Co-PIs: R. Wyss [Journalism] and R. Capers).
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| 2014 | $20,538 | NSF IOS: Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Ecological implications of hummingbird feeding mechanisms. (for A. Rico Guevara)
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| 2012 | $31,632 | CT Department of Environmental Protection: Inventory and Assessment of Greatest Conservation Need Avian Species. M. Rubega, PI
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| 2011 | $14,452 | NSF IOS: Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Biomechanics of Feeding in Loggerhead Shrikes. (for D. Sustaita).
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| 2011 | $26,667 | CT Department of Environmental Protection: Inventory and Assessment of Greatest Conservation Need Avian Species. M. Rubega, PI
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| 2010 | $32,958 | CT Department of Environmental Protection: Inventory and Assessment of Greatest Conservation Need Avian Species. M. Rubega, PI (Co-PI: Chris Elphick) 5/1/2010 – 10/14/2010.
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| 2008 | $61,698 | CT Dept of Environmental Protection: Connecticut Avian Insectivores: Habitat-use Study and Design of Artificial Nesting Structures for Chimney Swifts. M. Rubega, PI (C.S. Elphick, Co-PI)
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| 2007 | $123,104 | NSF DAB: Seed-dispersal mutualisms: the spatio-temporal dynamics of fleshy-fruited plants and their avian dispersers on landscapes. M. Rubega, PI (J. Silander, Co-PI).
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| 2006 | $139,165 | CT-Seagrant: Evaluating the benefits of salt marsh restoration and management for globally vulnerable birds. M.Rubega , Co-PI (C.S. Elphick, PI).
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| $24,952 | CT DEP – OLISP. A comprehensive assessment of the distribution of saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrows in Connecticut. M. Rubega, Co-PI (C.S. Elphick, PI)
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| 2003 | $138,895 | CT-Seagrant: Determining the causes of area sensitivity: a prerequisite for saltmarsh bird conservation and restoration. M. Rubega Co-PI (C.S. Elphick PI).
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| $104,506 | USDA-NRI: The fruits of success; examining the contribution of avian seed dispersal to the spread of invasive woody fruit-producing plants. M. Rubega, PI (N. LaFleur, Co-PI)
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| $11,725 | CT-DEP-OLISP: Assessing the impact of mute swan grazing on Long Island Sound eelgrass beds. M. Rubega, Co-PI, (with M. Huang, and C. Elphick, PI).
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| 2002 | $102,874 | EPA/Seagrant: Saltmarsh-breeding sparrows in Long Island Sound marshes: status and productivity of globally important populations. M. Rubega, Co-PI (C. Elphick, PI)
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| $12,779 | CT-DEP Endangered Species Income Tax Fund: Saltmarsh-breeding sparrows along the Connecticut coast: status and productivity of globally important populations. M. Rubega, Co-PI (C. Elphick, PI).
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| $24,434 | CT DEP Office of Long Island Sound Projects: Saltmarsh-breeding sparrows in Long Island Sound Marshes: testing the status of globally important populations. M. Rubega, Co-PI (C. Elphick, PI).
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| $24,635 | CT DEP Office of Long Island Sound Projects: Effects of artificial lighting on beach-nesting waterbirds: integrating experimental and observational studies. M. Rubega, PI (C. Elphick, Co-PI).
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| 1997 | ($117,936) | United States Geological Survey: Salinity management in western wetlands: Effects of irrigated agriculture on avian diversity. L. Oring, PI, M. Rubega, Co-PI, Grantwriter and original project Research Director (withdrew as Co-PI and Research Director), S. Haig, Co-PI
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| $5,012 | Canadian Wildlife Service-NSERC Research Network Program: Biomechanics of feeding in calidrid sandpipers: What constitutes prey? (renewal) L. Oring, PI; M. Rubega, Co-PI, Grantwriter and project Research Director.
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| 1996 | $5,000 | NSF REU Supplement: L. Oring, PI; M. Rubega, Grantwriter and project Research Director.
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| $5,107 | Canadian Wildlife Service-NSERC Research Network Program: Biomechanics of feeding in calidrid sandpipers: What constitutes prey? (renewal) L. Oring, PI; M. Rubega, Co-PI, Grantwriter and project Research Director.
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| $84,000 | Nevada State Agricultural Experiment Station, Hatch (5-year renewal): Salinization of Great Basin wetlands. L. Oring, PI; M. Rubega, Principal Grantwriter and project Research Director.
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1995 |
$150,857 | NSF: Habitat quality: A hidden component of wetland fragmentation. L. Oring, PI; M. Rubega, Principal Grantwriter and project Research Director.
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| $100,000 | USDA: Salt tolerances of wildlife: Helping to resolve water conflicts with agriculture. L. Oring, PI; M. Rubega, Co-PI, Principal Grantwriter and project Research Director.
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| 1994 | $50,000 | Nevada State Agricultural Experiment Station, Hatch: Salinization of Great Basin wetlands. L. Oring , PI; M. Rubega, Principal Grantwriter and project Research Director.
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| $4,875 | Nevada EPSCoR: Salinization of Nevada’s wetlands. L. Oring, PI; M. Rubega, Principal Grantwriter and project Research Director.
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| 1990 | $10,889 | University Research Expeditions: Foraging ecology of aquatic birds at Mono Lake. B. Obst, PI; M. Rubega, Grantwriter and Researcher. University of California, Los Angeles.
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| 1989 | $2,500 | Feeding limitations in Red-necked Phalaropes at Mono Lake. Mono Lake Foundation. M. Rubega, PI
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Internal
| 2021 | $23,960 | OVPR Research Excellence: Uncovering Migratory Flexibility in Salt Lake Bird Populations. M. Rubega, PI.
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| 2016 | $45,126 | OVPR Research Excellence: Where Have All the Birds Gone? Using Stable Isotopes to Solve the Mysterious Decline in Migratory Insectivorous Bird Populations. G. Hartman, PI (Anthropology, UConn), M. Rubega, Co-PI.
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| 2015 | $110,000 | CLAS Innovative Science Education Fund: Teaching and Learning Science Writing by Writing for the Public. M. Rubega P.I. (John Redden, Physiology and Neurobiology, UConn, Co-PI). |
Publications
Peer Reviewed
Published
(Names followed by asterisks are undergraduate researchers I have mentored)
Muzio, F.M.S. and Rubega, M.A. 2024. What do we really know about the water repellency of feathers? J Avian Biol e03259. https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03259
Rico Guevara, A., K.J. Hurme, M.A. Rubega, and D. Cuban. 2023. Nectar feeding beyond the tongue: hummingbirds drink using phase-shifted bill opening, flexible tongue flaps, and wringing at the tips. Journal of Experimental Biology 226 (Suppl_1): jeb245074. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.245074
Capers,R., A.Oeldorf-Hirsch, R. Wyss, K. Burgio and M.A. Rubega. 2022. What did they learn? Objective assessment tools show mixed effects of training on science communication behaviors. Frontiers in Communication 6: 805630. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.805630
| Burgio,K., C. Carlson, A. Bond, M. Rubega, and M. Tingley. 2021. The two extinctions of the Carolina Parakeet. Bird Conservation International, 1-8. https://doi:10.1017/S0959270921000241
Brown, H.M., M.A. Rubega, and H. Dierssen. 2021. The light’s in my eyes: optical modeling demonstrates wind is more important than sea surface-reflected sunlight for foraging herons. PeerJ 9:e12006 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12006
Rubega, M.A, K. Burgio, A.A.M. MacDonald , A. Oeldorf-Hirsch, R. S. Capers, and R. Wyss. 2021. Assessment by audiences shows little effect of science communication training. Science Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547020971639
Graveley, J.*, K.R. Burgio, and M.A. Rubega. 2020. Using a Thermal Camera to Measure Heat Loss Through Bird Feather Coats. Journal of Visualizable Experiments (160) e60981, https://doi.org/10.3791/60981.
Rico Guevara, A., M.A. Rubega, K.J. Hurme, and R. Dudley. 2019. Shifting paradigms in the mechanics of nectar extraction and hummingbird bill morphology. Integrative Organismal Biology 1: 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/oby006.
Sustaita, D., M.A. Rubega, and S. Farabough. 2018. Come on baby, let’s do the twist: the kinematics of killing in loggerhead shrikes. Biology Letters 14: 20180321. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0321.
Rico Guevara, A. and M.A. Rubega. 2017. Functional morphology of hummingbird bill tips: their function as tongue wringers. Zoology 123:1-10 (+ cover image). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zool.2017.06.001
Brown, H., A. Kamath, and M.A. Rubega. 2016. Facilitating discussions about privilege among future conservation practitioners. Conservation Biology. http://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12810
Elphick, C., S. Meiman, and M.A. Rubega. 2015. Tidal flow restoration provides little nesting habitat for a globally vulnerable saltmarsh bird. Restoration Ecology 23(4):439-446. http://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12194
Rico Guevara, A., T. Fan, and M.A. Rubega. 2015. Hummingbird tongues are elastic micropumps. Proceedings of the Royal Society, B. 282: 20151014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.1014
Burgio, K., M.A. Rubega, and D. Sustaita. 2014. Nest-building behavior of Monk Parakeets and insights into potential mechanisms for reducing damage to utility poles. PeerJ. 2:e601 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.601
Steeves, Tanner K., Shannon B. Kearney-McGee, Margaret A. Rubega, Calvin L. Cink and Charles T. Collins. 2014. Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/chiswi Sustaita, D., and M.A. Rubega. 2014. The anatomy of a shrike bite: bill shape and bite performance in Loggerhead Shrikes. Biol. J. of Linn. Soc. 112: 485–498. https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12298
Sustaita, D., C.L. Owen, J. C. Villarreal, and M.A. Rubega. 2014. Morphometric tools for sexing California populations of Loggerhead Shrikes based on DNA analysis. Southwestern Naturalist 59(4):562-569. http://dx.doi.org/10.1894/EKL-06.1
Rico Guevara, A., and M.A. Rubega. 2012. Hummingbird feeding mechanics: comments on the capillarity model. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109(15):E867. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1119750109
Rico Guevara, A., and M.A. Rubega. 2011. The hummingbird tongue is a fluid trap, not a capillary tube. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108(23): 9356-9360 www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1016944108
Merow, C., N. Lafleur, J. Silander, A. Wilson, and M.A. Rubega. 2011. Predicting bird-mediated spread of invasive plants across northeastern North America. American Naturalist.178: 30-43. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/660295
LaFleur, N., M.A. Rubega, and J. Parent*. 2009. Does frugivory by European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) facilitate the spread of fleshy-fruited invasive plants? Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 136(3): 332-341. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27751810
Gjerdrum, C., K. Sullivan-Wiley*, E. King, M.A. Rubega, and C.S. Elphick. 2008. Egg and chick fates during tidal flooding of saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow nests. Condor 110(3): 579-584. https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2008.8559
Gjerdrum, C., C.S. Elphick, and M.A. Rubega. 2008. How well can we model saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow numbers and productivity of using habitat features? Auk 125(3):608 – 617. https://doi.org/10.1525/auk.2008.07029
LaFleur, N., M.A. Rubega, and C.S. Elphick. 2007. Invasive fruits, novel foods and choice: an investigation of frugivory with European starlings and American robins. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119(3):429-438. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20456028
Humphreys, S.*, C.S. Elphick, C. Gjerdrum, M.A. Rubega. 2007. Testing the function of nest domes in Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows. Journal of Field Ornithology 78(2): 152-158. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1557-9263.2007.00098.x
Gjerdrum, C., C.S. Elphick, and M. Rubega. 2005. Nest site selection and nesting success in saltmarsh breeding sparrows: the importance of nest habitat, timing and study site differences. Condor 107:849-862. https://doi.org/10.1650/7723.1
Schwenk, K. and M. A. Rubega. 2005. Diversity of vertebrate feeding systems. Pp. 1-41. In: Physiological and Ecological Adaptations to Feeding in Vertebrates. J. M. Starck and T. Wang (eds), Science Publ., Enfield, NH. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261359233_Diversity_of_Vertebrate_Feeding_Systems
G. Yanega and M.A. Rubega. 2004. Hummingbird jaw bends to aid insect capture. Nature 428:615. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/428615a
Rubega, M., and L.W. Oring. 2004: Excretory organ development and implications for salt tolerance in hatchling American avocets. Journal of Avian Biology 35:13-15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3677676
M. Becker*, M.A. Rubega, and L.W. Oring. 2002. Development of feeding mechanics in growing birds: scything behavior in juvenile American Avocets. Bird Behavior 15:1-10. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/bb/2002/00000015/00000001/bb057
Kitasky, A.S., G.L. Hunt, Jr., E.N. Flint, M.A. Rubega, and M.B. Decker. 2001. Resource allocation in breeding seabirds: responses to fluctuations in their food supply. Marine Ecology Progress Series 206:283-296. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24863771
Warnock, N., M. Rubega, and C. Elphick. 2001. Shorebirds in the marine environment. Pgs. 581-616 In: Biology of Marine Birds. J. Burger and B.A. Schreiber, eds. Academic Press.
Rubega, M.A. 2000. Feeding in birds: approaches and opportunities. Pgs. 395-408 In: Feeding: Form, Function, and Evolution of Tetrapod Vertebrates. K. Schwenk, ed. Academic Press.
Rubega, M.A., D.S. Schamel and D. Tracy. 2000: Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus). In The Birds of North America, No. 538. A. Poole and F. Gill, eds. The Birds of North America, Inc. https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/renpha
Rubega, M.A. 1997. Surface tension prey transport in shorebirds: how widespread is it? Ibis 139:488-493. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1997.tb04663.x/epdf
Rubega, M.A., and J. Robinson. 1997. Water salinization and the management of Great Basin wetlands for shorebirds. International Wader Studies 9:45-54. https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/iws/n009/p00045-p00054.pdf
Obst, B.S., W.M. Hamner, E. Wolanski, P.P. Hamner, M.A. Rubega, and B. Littlehales. 1996. Kinematics and fluid mechanics of spinning in phalaropes. (+ cover photo.) Nature 384:121. http://doi.org/10.1038/384121a0
Rubega, M.A. 1996. Sexual size dimorphism in red-necked phalaropes and the functional significance of non-sexual bill structure variation for feeding performance. Journal of Morphology 228:45-60. http://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4687(199604)228:1<45::AID-JMOR4>3.0.CO;2-O
Elphick, C.S. and M.A. Rubega. 1995. Prey choices and foraging efficiency of recently-fledged California Gulls at Mono Lake, California. Great Basin Naturalist 55:363-367. http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2946&context=gbn
Rubega, M.A., and C. Inouye. 1994. Switching in phalaropes: feeding limitations, the functional response and water policy at Mono Lake, CA. Biological Conservation 70:205-210. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(94)90164-3
Rubega, M.A., and B.S. Obst. 1993. Surface tension feeding in phalaropes: discovery of a novel feeding mechanism. Auk 110:169-178 + frontispiece. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4088545
Kennicutt, M.C. II, S.T. Sweet, W. Fraser, M.E. Culver, W.L. Stockton, K. Dunton, L. Martin, D.M. Karl, L. Quetin, D. Kaur, C.D. Amsler, R.M. Ross, R. Rowley, M. Neushul, J. Hyland, J. Kennett, J. Campbell, M. Fry, B. Todd, A. Bennett, Z.A. Eppley, M.A. Rubega, T. Targett, P. Grecay, O. Lecaros Palma, G. Ferrerya, V. Alder. 1990. Oil spillage in Antarctica. Environmental Science and Technology 24:620-624. http://doi.org/10.1021/es00075a601
Eppley, Z.A., and M.A. Rubega. 1990. Indirect effects of an oil spill: reproductive failure in a population of South Polar Skuas following the Bahia Paraiso oil spill in Antarctica. Marine Ecology Progress Series 67:1-6. http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/67/m067p001.pdf
Eppley, Z.A., and M.A. Rubega. 1990. Skua survival – reply to Trivelpiece et al. Nature 345:211. http://doi.org/10.1038/345211c0
Eppley, Z.A., M.A. Rubega, and M.L. Tasker. 1989. Reproductive success of kelp gulls and south polar skuas at Palmer Station, Antarctic Peninsula, 1988-89. Antarctic Journal 24:200-202.
Eppley, Z.A., and M.A. Rubega. 1989. Indirect effects of an oil spill. Nature 340:513. http://doi.org/10.1038/340513a0
Submitted:
Janis, A., M.E. Dietz, M.J. Metcalf, and M.A. Rubega. Educational Efficacy of Private Well Testing Workshops and The Surveillance of Private Drinking Water Quality In Connecticut. 2024; Submitted to Journal of Water and Health.
Montaño-Centellas, F., van Rees, C., Block, K.*, White, R., Rubega, M.A, Burgio, K.* 2023. Do Invaders Conform to Biogeographic “Rules”? Testing Allen’s, Bergmann’s, and Gloger’s Rules in Monk Parakeets. Submitted to Oikos. Preprint at: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.169929398.85254889/v1
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Science Writing for the Public
| Wyss, R., R. Capers, and M.A. Rubega. 2021. Scientists need to become better communicators, but it’s hard to measure whether training works. In: The Conversation, April 7, 2021. https://theconversation.com/scientists-need-to-become-better-communicators-but-its-hard-to-measure-whether-training-works-154628
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| Rubega, M.A., S. Kearney, and T. Steeves. 2013. Chimney Swifts. In: Connecticut State of the Birds (M. Bull, ed.) Connecticut Audubon Society.
Cech, R. J.B. Dunning, Jr., C. Elphick, and M.A. Rubega. Flight, form and function. Pgs. 8-38; and Cech, R., and M.A. Rubega. Origin, evolution and systematics. Pgs. 39-50 in: National Audubon Society, The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. 2001. D.A. Sibley, C.S. Elphick, J.B. Dunning, eds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. (This book communicates scientific knowledge about birds to a lay audience. Widely featured in the media, it was on the NYT Bestseller’s List and has sold over 100,000 copies.)
Rubega, M.A. 2005. Magnificent Bird Long Thought Extinct: National Refuge Saved Woodpecker. (OpEd piece, appeared in the May 6, 2005 Hartford Courant.)
Rubega, M.A. 2001. Birds: Phalaropes. pp 2142-2149 In: Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences. J. Steele, S. Thorpe, and K. Turekian, eds. Academic Press.
Rubega, M.A., and H.M. Weiss. 1995. Birds. In Marine animals of southern New England and New York: identification keys to common nearshore and shallow water macrofauna, by H.M. Weiss. State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut, and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
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Technical Reports
Carle, R., G. Burns, M. Clapp, K. Caruso, D. House, R. Larson, A. Lewis, A. E. McKellar, J. Neill, M.I. Prather, J. Reuland, and M. Rubega. 2022. Coordinated phalarope surveys at western North American staging sites, 2019-2021.
Carle, R. and M.A. Rubega. 2019. Phalarope Surveys at Mono Lake, 2019.
| Carle, R. and M. A. Rubega. 2019. Final Report to Switzer Foundation: Convening a working group to propel regional and international conservation research on Wilson’s and red-necked phalaropes.
Rubega, M.A., R. Wyss, and R. Capers. 2019. Final Report to NSF, Training Graduate Students to Communicate, and Measuring Whether it Works.
Rico Guevara, A., and M.A. Rubega. 2014. Final Project Report to NSF, Dissertation Research. Ecological implications of hummingbird feeding mechanisms.
Sustaita, D., and M.A. Rubega. 2013. Final Project Report to NSF, Dissertation Research: Biomechanics of Feeding in Loggerhead Shrikes.
C.S. Elphick, S. Meiman, and M.A. Rubega. 2011. The benefits of salt marsh restoration to globally vulnerable birds. Final report to Connecticut Sea Grant.
Elphick, C.S., T. Bayard, S. Meiman, and M.A. Rubega. 2009. A comprehensive assessment of the distribution of saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrows in Connecticut. Final Report to Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Long Island Sound Programs (32 pp.)
Elphick, C.S., C. Gjerdrum, P. Comins and M.A. Rubega. 2005. Saltmarsh-breeding sparrows in Long Island Sound: Status and productivity of globally important populations. Final report to Environmental Protection Agency and Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. (94 pp.)
Elphick, C.S., C. Gjerdrum, and M.A. Rubega. 2004. Does artificial lighting affect breeding by beach-nesting birds? Report to Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Rubega, M.A. 1992. Feeding limitations and ecology of Red-necked Phalaropes at Mono Lake, with incidental observations on other species. Subconsultant’s report to Jones and Stokes Associates, for Environmental Impact Report for the Review of the Mono Basin Water Rights of the City of Los Angeles. California State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, Sacramento, CA.
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Book Reviews
| Rubega, M.A. 1999. Vertebrate Life, 5th edition, by F.H. Pough, C.M. Janis, and J.B. Heiser. Book Review. Quart. Rev. Biol. 74 (4):478-479.
Rubega, M.A.. 1994. Bird life of coasts and estuaries, by Peter N. Ferns. Book Review. Auk 112:274-275.
Rubega, M.A. 1994. Nesting birds of the coastal islands: a naturalist’s year on Galveston Bay, by John C. Dyes. Book Review. Auk 112:274.
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Other Products:
Patents
Burgio, K. and Rubega M., Inventors; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/842,608, filed July 3, 2013- Nesting Bird Exclusion Device. This device is licensed to Midsun LLC, a Connecticut company that specializes in equipment for utility companies.
Teaching and training:
Graduate
Since 2006 I have led an interdisciplinary (EEB & Journalism) team teaching Science Communication to graduate students with an interest in speaking to the press, the public, and policy makers. Our group, which included colleagues from Educational Psychology, Communications, the UConn Humanities Institute, and a range of STEM disciplines,
was funded from July 2015 through August 2019 on an NSF National Research Training Innovative Education grant, which provided resources to develop an additional graduate course in Writing for Public Audiences. In 2021, in association with my current National Science Foundation National Research Training grant (PI, Mark Urban, I am co-PI) I developed another course, in Risk Communication.
I also periodically teach a Presentation Skills (for technical audiences) seminar.
Undergraduate
I have taught Ornithology since 1998. In 2009 I pioneered a method of using Twitter (see #birdclass) to enhance instruction in ornithology classes, that has been profiled by the NY Times (http://nyti.ms/2tY9aR8), and in MOOCs in evidence-based STEM education (https://www.coursera.org/course/stemteaching).
In 2015, I collaborated with Dr. John Redden in UConn’s Department of Physiology and Neurobiology to develop a two-course sequence of Science Writing for Public Audiences courses for undergraduates that focus on helping students to interpret the technical scientific literature for non-scientists in a service-learning framework.
University-wide Service:
| 2022 – | Member, Senate Executive Committee |
| 2020-2022 | Chair, University Senate Justice, Equity, and Diversity Committee |
| 2021 | Co-Chair, University-wide Working Group on Climate Assessments |
| 2021 | Panel member, Racism in the Margins |
| 2018 – | Member, University Senate |
Service to Community:
As State Ornithologist since 1998, I have been providing information and technical advice to state (e.g., Dept. of Energy & Environmental Protection) and federal (e.g. USFWS) agencies, NGOs (e.g., National Audubon, The Nature Conservancy), birding organizations (e.g., Hartford and New Haven bird clubs) the media (e.g., NPR’s Science Friday http://bit.ly/2tDtZC4 and Living on Earth http://bit.ly/2szzoeB and BBC Radio http://bbc.in/2t0mFlN), and the public.
Member (2023 – present), Independent Scientific Body for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Monitoring, Office of the Chief Science Advisor of Canada.
Research Advisor (2021 – present), Responsible Offshore Science Alliance; a non-profit coordinating and providing advice to the offshore wind policy and industry communities on fisheries and wildlife in relation to the development of wind farms.
Member (2008 – 2016) Board of Trustees, Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to promoting the careers and professional development of expert environmental problem solvers. I have also served annually as a referee for their Graduate Fellowship Competition since 1996.
Member (1999 – present), Technical Review Committee, National Audubon Society Important Bird Areas Program for Connecticut
Member (2000 – present), Connecticut Grassland Conservation Working Group
Member (2000 – present), Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection Endangered Species Advisory Committee for Avian Species.
Member (2009 – 2013), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, University of Connecticut.
Extensive service as State Ornithologist since 1998, providing information and technical advice to state
Selected Recent Press-coverage of Research:
Youtube:
August 2020; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Biagyb7AcK8
Audubon Magazine:
April 2024: https://www.audubon.org/news/saline-lakes-are-dying-scientists-hope-unusual-shorebird-can-help-save-them
The Atlantic
November 2017: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/11/hummingbird-tongues/546992/
Science