Elly Knight
@ellycknight.bsky.social
Birds, acoustics, nightjars, movement
Quantitative Ecologist at Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute & Boreal Avian Modelling Project
Parent of 3 (+ doggo), fibre lover, cyclist
She/her
Quantitative Ecologist at Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute & Boreal Avian Modelling Project
Parent of 3 (+ doggo), fibre lover, cyclist
She/her
Pinned
Elly Knight
@ellycknight.bsky.social
· Dec 9
Elly Knight
Applied Ecologist
ellyknight.ca
Hi Bsky 👋 Figured it was time to make a first post ⏰
I'm Elly! I mostly do bird numbers and acoustics. Sometimes migration. I like to think about detection probability. I secretly love nightjars (ok it's not really a secret).
You can read a bit more about my work at ellyknight.ca
I'm Elly! I mostly do bird numbers and acoustics. Sometimes migration. I like to think about detection probability. I secretly love nightjars (ok it's not really a secret).
You can read a bit more about my work at ellyknight.ca
New(ish) paper; huge collaboration led by Aaron Skinner!
Using GPS tracking we show breeding grounds drive body size variation more than wintering grounds! First evidence that nightjars follow Bergmann’s rule👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#nightjars #birds #migration #ornithology
Using GPS tracking we show breeding grounds drive body size variation more than wintering grounds! First evidence that nightjars follow Bergmann’s rule👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#nightjars #birds #migration #ornithology
October 30, 2025 at 2:48 PM
New(ish) paper; huge collaboration led by Aaron Skinner!
Using GPS tracking we show breeding grounds drive body size variation more than wintering grounds! First evidence that nightjars follow Bergmann’s rule👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#nightjars #birds #migration #ornithology
Using GPS tracking we show breeding grounds drive body size variation more than wintering grounds! First evidence that nightjars follow Bergmann’s rule👇
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
#nightjars #birds #migration #ornithology
The @abbiodiversity.bsky.social is hiring a statistical ecologist! This is my previous position and is IMO an awesome job. Focus will be on birds 🐦 and acoustics 🔉, holler if you'd like to chat about it!
Learn more & apply by October 30, 2025: abmi.ca/abmi-home/co...
Learn more & apply by October 30, 2025: abmi.ca/abmi-home/co...
Statistical Ecologist
<p>The Human Footprint Analyst plays a pivotal role in one of ABMI’s most recognized programs—the Human Footprint Monitoring Program—tracking human land use patterns across Alberta&r...
abmi.ca
October 17, 2025 at 3:13 PM
The @abbiodiversity.bsky.social is hiring a statistical ecologist! This is my previous position and is IMO an awesome job. Focus will be on birds 🐦 and acoustics 🔉, holler if you'd like to chat about it!
Learn more & apply by October 30, 2025: abmi.ca/abmi-home/co...
Learn more & apply by October 30, 2025: abmi.ca/abmi-home/co...
Reposted by Elly Knight
Is passive acoustic monitoring worth it for terrestrial mammals? 🎙️🐨
We find it's not the one for all solution, but for vocal species, yes! It's highly effective & saves lots of time and money, especially in the long-term.
Find out more: doi.org/10.1111/2041... 🔈🦊🧪🌎 @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social
We find it's not the one for all solution, but for vocal species, yes! It's highly effective & saves lots of time and money, especially in the long-term.
Find out more: doi.org/10.1111/2041... 🔈🦊🧪🌎 @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social
Sensors versus surveyors: Comparing passive acoustic monitoring, camera trapping and observer‐based monitoring for terrestrial mammals
Mammals play vital roles in ecological communities, but many are in rapid decline worldwide. Comprehensive monitoring of mammal populations is crucial for effective conservation, but large-scale m...
doi.org
October 14, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Is passive acoustic monitoring worth it for terrestrial mammals? 🎙️🐨
We find it's not the one for all solution, but for vocal species, yes! It's highly effective & saves lots of time and money, especially in the long-term.
Find out more: doi.org/10.1111/2041... 🔈🦊🧪🌎 @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social
We find it's not the one for all solution, but for vocal species, yes! It's highly effective & saves lots of time and money, especially in the long-term.
Find out more: doi.org/10.1111/2041... 🔈🦊🧪🌎 @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social
Reposted by Elly Knight
I'm excited to share our new (in press) paper on vocal individuality and acoustic recognition. We looked at Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos, Little Penguins, Little Owls, Tree Pipits and Chiffchaffs, with promising results. #bioacoustics #vocalindividuality www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Acoustic recognition of individuals in closed and open bird populations
Passive acoustic monitoring is firmly established as an effective non-invasive technique for wildlife monitoring. The analysis of animal vocalizations…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:35 AM
I'm excited to share our new (in press) paper on vocal individuality and acoustic recognition. We looked at Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos, Little Penguins, Little Owls, Tree Pipits and Chiffchaffs, with promising results. #bioacoustics #vocalindividuality www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Elly Knight
Embed ALL the sounds
New tool from @vskode.bsky.social to compare methods that classify & cluster animal sounds w/ embeddings: vectors extracted from neural network models
Nice example w/ AnuranSet from @juancanyas.bsky.social in post 👇
Code: github.com/bioacoustic-...
#prattle 💬
##bioacoustics
New tool from @vskode.bsky.social to compare methods that classify & cluster animal sounds w/ embeddings: vectors extracted from neural network models
Nice example w/ AnuranSet from @juancanyas.bsky.social in post 👇
Code: github.com/bioacoustic-...
#prattle 💬
##bioacoustics
June 19, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Embed ALL the sounds
New tool from @vskode.bsky.social to compare methods that classify & cluster animal sounds w/ embeddings: vectors extracted from neural network models
Nice example w/ AnuranSet from @juancanyas.bsky.social in post 👇
Code: github.com/bioacoustic-...
#prattle 💬
##bioacoustics
New tool from @vskode.bsky.social to compare methods that classify & cluster animal sounds w/ embeddings: vectors extracted from neural network models
Nice example w/ AnuranSet from @juancanyas.bsky.social in post 👇
Code: github.com/bioacoustic-...
#prattle 💬
##bioacoustics
Reposted by Elly Knight
We're #hiring a Statistical Wildlife Ecologist! This position analyzes large, complex datasets to support landscape management throughout Canada.
Learn more and apply through the University of Alberta by May 27, 2025:
wildlifescience.ca/hiring-stati...
#biodiversity #mammals #wildlife
Learn more and apply through the University of Alberta by May 27, 2025:
wildlifescience.ca/hiring-stati...
#biodiversity #mammals #wildlife
May 9, 2025 at 3:34 PM
We're #hiring a Statistical Wildlife Ecologist! This position analyzes large, complex datasets to support landscape management throughout Canada.
Learn more and apply through the University of Alberta by May 27, 2025:
wildlifescience.ca/hiring-stati...
#biodiversity #mammals #wildlife
Learn more and apply through the University of Alberta by May 27, 2025:
wildlifescience.ca/hiring-stati...
#biodiversity #mammals #wildlife
New paper! We developed HawkEars, a CNN training framework and classifier for a regional community of acoustic animals - 328 bird species and 13 amphibian species in Canada.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#bioacoustics 1/n
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#bioacoustics 1/n
HawkEars: A regional, high-performance avian acoustic classifier
Passive acoustic monitoring is rapidly emerging as a dominant approach for studying acoustic wildlife, with neural networks used as an increasingly co…
www.sciencedirect.com
May 14, 2025 at 10:13 PM
New paper! We developed HawkEars, a CNN training framework and classifier for a regional community of acoustic animals - 328 bird species and 13 amphibian species in Canada.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#bioacoustics 1/n
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#bioacoustics 1/n
New paper from my PDF with the folks at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Centre and a whole host of awesome collaborators! We used migratory connectivity from a big tracking dataset to define groups of curlews for full annual cycle management
📷Curlew with a solar tag by Andy Boyce
New research, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, could help scientists better conserve the critical habitats of long-billed curlews, North America’s largest shorebird🐦, throughout their migratory journeys.
🧪🌍
New research, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, could help scientists better conserve the critical habitats of long-billed curlews, North America’s largest shorebird🐦, throughout their migratory journeys.
🧪🌍
May 13, 2025 at 9:17 PM
New paper from my PDF with the folks at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Centre and a whole host of awesome collaborators! We used migratory connectivity from a big tracking dataset to define groups of curlews for full annual cycle management
I'm super excited to step into this new role! For 20 years, BAM has made enormous contributions to boreal bird conservation; I am deeply honoured to steward and continue those contributions as part of the Biodiversity Pathways family. We've got lots of exciting collaborative work on the horizons!
This April, we welcomed the Boreal Avian Modelling Project (now Centre!) to Biodiversity Pathways! We are pleased to announce that @ellycknight.bsky.social has taken on the new role of Operational Director at BAM for this next chapter.
biodiversitypathways.ca/bam-joins-bp/
biodiversitypathways.ca/bam-joins-bp/
BAM is now the Boreal Avian Modelling Centre with Biodiversity Pathways
As of April 1, 2025, BAM has become the fourth initiative under Biodiversity Pathways.
biodiversitypathways.ca
May 8, 2025 at 4:54 PM
I'm super excited to step into this new role! For 20 years, BAM has made enormous contributions to boreal bird conservation; I am deeply honoured to steward and continue those contributions as part of the Biodiversity Pathways family. We've got lots of exciting collaborative work on the horizons!
Reposted by Elly Knight
AI is moving faster than the publication process. If a paper is rejected, it’s virtually obsolete because scientists are onto the next model generation.
This @naturemethods.bsky.social was fun to report!
Thx to @sarameghanbeery.bsky.social @ellycknight.bsky.social @conservationxlabs.bsky.social!
This @naturemethods.bsky.social was fun to report!
Thx to @sarameghanbeery.bsky.social @ellycknight.bsky.social @conservationxlabs.bsky.social!
AI carves out a niche in ecology and conservation research - Nature Methods
Scientists who study biodiversity are in the rapid adoption phase of AI. They are finding that what AI can — and can’t — do is shifting rapidly.
www.nature.com
May 5, 2025 at 2:42 PM
AI is moving faster than the publication process. If a paper is rejected, it’s virtually obsolete because scientists are onto the next model generation.
This @naturemethods.bsky.social was fun to report!
Thx to @sarameghanbeery.bsky.social @ellycknight.bsky.social @conservationxlabs.bsky.social!
This @naturemethods.bsky.social was fun to report!
Thx to @sarameghanbeery.bsky.social @ellycknight.bsky.social @conservationxlabs.bsky.social!
Reposted by Elly Knight
If you're wondering how your priorities stack up with the parties' plans, CBC has a quick tool that will help you figure that out!
And ICYMI, yes 🇨🇦 citizens can vote even if we don't live in Canada. Here's how: travel.gc.ca/travelling/l...
And ICYMI, yes 🇨🇦 citizens can vote even if we don't live in Canada. Here's how: travel.gc.ca/travelling/l...
Vote Compass - 2025 Canadian Federal Election
Use this interactive survey designed by political scientists to calculate your alignment with the candidate platforms.
votecompass.cbc.ca
March 25, 2025 at 8:04 PM
If you're wondering how your priorities stack up with the parties' plans, CBC has a quick tool that will help you figure that out!
And ICYMI, yes 🇨🇦 citizens can vote even if we don't live in Canada. Here's how: travel.gc.ca/travelling/l...
And ICYMI, yes 🇨🇦 citizens can vote even if we don't live in Canada. Here's how: travel.gc.ca/travelling/l...
Reposted by Elly Knight
Proud of what @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social is doing to support ornithologists affected by the Trump administration's attack on science. Those suffering hardship related to the EOs, layoffs, etc. can get free membership and registration to the upcoming meeting here: tinyurl.com/vf34sh93
2025 Emergency Support for Federal Employees
If you have suffered undue professional hardship from the US Executive Branch's assault on Federal agencies, please use this form to indicate the form of assistance from the Wilson Ornithological Soci...
tinyurl.com
March 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Proud of what @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social is doing to support ornithologists affected by the Trump administration's attack on science. Those suffering hardship related to the EOs, layoffs, etc. can get free membership and registration to the upcoming meeting here: tinyurl.com/vf34sh93
Reposted by Elly Knight
Like birds and models? Dr. Erin Bayne and I are currently recruiting a 2 year postdoc to come work with us at the Boreal Avian Modelling project on boreal bird models and applications of those models. Full details are here tinyurl.com/4yxju63k. Feel free to get in touch with qs!
February 10, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Like birds and models? Dr. Erin Bayne and I are currently recruiting a 2 year postdoc to come work with us at the Boreal Avian Modelling project on boreal bird models and applications of those models. Full details are here tinyurl.com/4yxju63k. Feel free to get in touch with qs!
Reposted by Elly Knight
Postdoc opportunity: work with the Boreal Avian Modelling project on habitat models for boreal birds! Applications are being accepted until the position is filled.
tinyurl.com/3bkb838e
#remotesensing #avianecology @ellycknight.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/3bkb838e
#remotesensing #avianecology @ellycknight.bsky.social
February 18, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Postdoc opportunity: work with the Boreal Avian Modelling project on habitat models for boreal birds! Applications are being accepted until the position is filled.
tinyurl.com/3bkb838e
#remotesensing #avianecology @ellycknight.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/3bkb838e
#remotesensing #avianecology @ellycknight.bsky.social
Like birds and models? Dr. Erin Bayne and I are currently recruiting a 2 year postdoc to come work with us at the Boreal Avian Modelling project on boreal bird models and applications of those models. Full details are here tinyurl.com/4yxju63k. Feel free to get in touch with qs!
February 10, 2025 at 11:14 PM
Like birds and models? Dr. Erin Bayne and I are currently recruiting a 2 year postdoc to come work with us at the Boreal Avian Modelling project on boreal bird models and applications of those models. Full details are here tinyurl.com/4yxju63k. Feel free to get in touch with qs!
Reposted by Elly Knight
This April, we’re welcoming the Boreal Avian Modelling Project to Biodiversity Pathways!
BAM is an international scientific collaboration that develops science and products to support migratory bird management and conservation across boreal North America.
biodiversitypathways.ca/the-boreal-a...
BAM is an international scientific collaboration that develops science and products to support migratory bird management and conservation across boreal North America.
biodiversitypathways.ca/the-boreal-a...
The Boreal Avian Modelling Project to join Biodiversity Pathways
This April, we’re welcoming the Boreal Avian Modelling Project (BAM) to Biodiversity Pathways. BAM is an international scientific collaboration that develops and disseminates reliable, data-driven an...
biodiversitypathways.ca
February 3, 2025 at 4:55 PM
This April, we’re welcoming the Boreal Avian Modelling Project to Biodiversity Pathways!
BAM is an international scientific collaboration that develops science and products to support migratory bird management and conservation across boreal North America.
biodiversitypathways.ca/the-boreal-a...
BAM is an international scientific collaboration that develops science and products to support migratory bird management and conservation across boreal North America.
biodiversitypathways.ca/the-boreal-a...
Hey bird people! Join us in Saskatoon for SCO-SOC 2025 Conference in Aug 13-16. Symposia and workshop submissions are open now until Jan 31!
conferences.usask.ca/sco-2025/ind...
conferences.usask.ca/sco-2025/ind...
January 23, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Hey bird people! Join us in Saskatoon for SCO-SOC 2025 Conference in Aug 13-16. Symposia and workshop submissions are open now until Jan 31!
conferences.usask.ca/sco-2025/ind...
conferences.usask.ca/sco-2025/ind...
This is *top notch* scicomm! Awesome science too, including some acoustic individual identification :)
#bioacoustics #scicomm #seabirds
My wonderful students/friends and myself are happy to share our sweet little zine summarising my PhD on the little auk's vocal communication :)
You can download the read & print versions here, and are more than welcome to share. Enjoy!
osf.io/h7msz/
My wonderful students/friends and myself are happy to share our sweet little zine summarising my PhD on the little auk's vocal communication :)
You can download the read & print versions here, and are more than welcome to share. Enjoy!
osf.io/h7msz/
January 12, 2025 at 9:01 PM
This is *top notch* scicomm! Awesome science too, including some acoustic individual identification :)
Reposted by Elly Knight
JOB: Statistical Ecologist, Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI)
* 2 years, full time
* Salary $69k-93k + benefits
* Remote &/or in-office (at U Alberta)
* Apply by 10 Jan abmi.ca/abmi-home/co...
#ConservationJobs #ScienceJobs
* 2 years, full time
* Salary $69k-93k + benefits
* Remote &/or in-office (at U Alberta)
* Apply by 10 Jan abmi.ca/abmi-home/co...
#ConservationJobs #ScienceJobs
January 3, 2025 at 4:56 PM
JOB: Statistical Ecologist, Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute (ABMI)
* 2 years, full time
* Salary $69k-93k + benefits
* Remote &/or in-office (at U Alberta)
* Apply by 10 Jan abmi.ca/abmi-home/co...
#ConservationJobs #ScienceJobs
* 2 years, full time
* Salary $69k-93k + benefits
* Remote &/or in-office (at U Alberta)
* Apply by 10 Jan abmi.ca/abmi-home/co...
#ConservationJobs #ScienceJobs
Applications due this Friday, please repost! Feel free to message me with questions about this position, happy to chat :)
Are you interested in how species distribution models are used in land use planning? Come work us! This is going to be a super cool position understanding how model reliability affects model applications. Creative! Collaborative! Quantitative!
Apply by Jan 10: ow.ly/gzPn50UsUQG
Apply by Jan 10: ow.ly/gzPn50UsUQG
January 6, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Applications due this Friday, please repost! Feel free to message me with questions about this position, happy to chat :)
Are you interested in how species distribution models are used in land use planning? Come work us! This is going to be a super cool position understanding how model reliability affects model applications. Creative! Collaborative! Quantitative!
Apply by Jan 10: ow.ly/gzPn50UsUQG
Apply by Jan 10: ow.ly/gzPn50UsUQG
December 19, 2024 at 3:20 PM
Are you interested in how species distribution models are used in land use planning? Come work us! This is going to be a super cool position understanding how model reliability affects model applications. Creative! Collaborative! Quantitative!
Apply by Jan 10: ow.ly/gzPn50UsUQG
Apply by Jan 10: ow.ly/gzPn50UsUQG
Reposted by Elly Knight
cool. XC will open up for strongly labelled recordings like these somewhere in 2025. #bioacoustics
A two-stage object detection model, trained on a new open-access dataset of 13,359 annotated bird vocalizations, achieved accuracy comparable to state-of-the-art systems despite using a smaller dataset.
NBM: an Open Dataset for the Acoustic Monitoring of Nocturnal Migratory Birds in Europe
Louis Airale, Adrien Pajot, Juliette Linossier
arxiv.org
December 6, 2024 at 7:41 AM
cool. XC will open up for strongly labelled recordings like these somewhere in 2025. #bioacoustics
Reposted by Elly Knight
Excited to share our #NeurIPS2024 paper on deep learning models and benchmark datasets for localizing + attributing vocalizations in social interactions!
Please come visit the poster on Friday 11am-1pm PST in West Ballroom A-D #5406.
Paper link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Please come visit the poster on Friday 11am-1pm PST in West Ballroom A-D #5406.
Paper link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Vocal Call Locator Benchmark (VCL) for localizing rodent vocalizations from multi-channel audio
Understanding the behavioral and neural dynamics of social interactions is a goal of contemporary neuroscience. Many machine learning methods have emerged in recent years to make sense of complex vide...
www.biorxiv.org
December 10, 2024 at 11:53 PM
Excited to share our #NeurIPS2024 paper on deep learning models and benchmark datasets for localizing + attributing vocalizations in social interactions!
Please come visit the poster on Friday 11am-1pm PST in West Ballroom A-D #5406.
Paper link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Please come visit the poster on Friday 11am-1pm PST in West Ballroom A-D #5406.
Paper link: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
@ibisjournal.bsky.social would you mind adding me to your Ornithology starter pack? (go.bsky.app/CB8biDW) Thanks!
Ornithology
Join the conversation
go.bsky.app
December 10, 2024 at 5:38 PM
@ibisjournal.bsky.social would you mind adding me to your Ornithology starter pack? (go.bsky.app/CB8biDW) Thanks!