Dr. Emily S Choy (she/her), FRCGS
@emilyschoy.bsky.social
1.1K followers 970 following 55 posts
#NewPI Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at McMaster University studying the impacts of climate change and pollution on birds. Explorer-in-Residence for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
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emilyschoy.bsky.social
Excited to start the Canadian Ecotoxicity Workshop in Victoria! My student and I were entertained by sea otters at lunch!
emilyschoy.bsky.social
Nice to see the Choy lab featured on the Haldimand Bird Observatory blog! www.haldimandbirdobservatory.com/september-25...
emilyschoy.bsky.social
My lab and I from @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Haldimand Bird Observatory this morning! Thank you so much Rick Ludkin for sharing with us your knowledge of local songbirds and providing us with hands-on training and of course, the free humour!
emilyschoy.bsky.social
Today, 165 2nd year undergraduates participated in the Great Canadian Bioblitz at McMaster Forest this morning! Most had never been to or even heard of McMaster Forest! Their enthusiasm was contagious with many species sightings! A special thanks to the leaders of Nature @ McMaster for hosting us!
emilyschoy.bsky.social
Today, my @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social BIOL 2F03 course started our first labs with a canoe trip through Cootes Paradise to learn about the ecosystem. We saw egrets, ospreys, & great blue herons! The students had a blast & for some it was their first time canoeing!
emilyschoy.bsky.social
Here’s a video of @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social grad students Abby & Flynn removing an adult rhinoceros auklet for a body mass measurement after a respirometry trial. All birds were handled with proper training and permits. Listen to their amazing experience here: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
Reposted by Dr. Emily S Choy (she/her), FRCGS
emilyschoy.bsky.social
just completed 3 x 5km run in 1 week! Bring on the new term! 🏃🏾‍♀️
emilyschoy.bsky.social
Kite making + foam party = a perfect day!
emilyschoy.bsky.social
Excited to play with ozobots at the library!
emilyschoy.bsky.social
My little fish passed his swimming course!
emilyschoy.bsky.social
Happy that these two get back today after a successful seabird field season on Middleton Island, Alaska! Here they are banding glaucous winged gull chicks! All birds were handled with proper permits and training.
Reposted by Dr. Emily S Choy (she/her), FRCGS
zedmorgan.bsky.social
Happy to advance another Middleton Island kittiwake project (rapid behavior changes associated with endogenous and exogenous corticosterone increases). This field site provides surreal access to these #seabirds - it's a dream for studying the physiology/behavior interface in free-living animals.
"The Middleton Island Tower". A muti-story, 12-faceted gray tower has a white door at the base and siding on the the bottom 2/3rds but a set of horizontal wooden beams on the outside of the top 3rd. On the beams are white spots that, upon magnification, are revealed to be small white gulls (kittiwakes)on nests. The tower is capped with struts and grating that extend over the edges of the main structure on all all sides, and also have kittiwake nests visible on them (though you're looking at the from below). The background, the sun is halfway below the horizon and casting an orange glow. The view of a kittiwake nest from inside the tower. In the foreground, a shallow bowl-like nest made of brown dried vegetation contains two small white fuzzy chicks. One of them is facing the camera and has very black eyes and beak, the other is somewhat tucked behind the first so you cannot see its face. A large adult white gull with large black eyes and a yellow beak is standing on the back edge of the nest, facing you, with its wings partially extended up behind it. The wings are mostly white but the tips of the 5 longest primary feathers are black. In the background, green vegetation spread below, with the shiny surface of a small pond visible in the distance, and a larger shining (because of the sun reflecting on it) body of water (the Gulf of Alaska) beyond the shoreline. 3 white gulls are visible in the background, flying through the scene.
Reposted by Dr. Emily S Choy (she/her), FRCGS
kirkwoodlab.bsky.social
“York University scientist Sheila Colla remembered as a fierce advocate to save wild bees. Colla, 43, died Sunday of cancer. She successfully fought for the rusty-patched bumblebee to become the first bee listed as an endangered species in Canada and the U.S.”

www.thestar.com/news/gta/she...
‘Sheila just went for it’: York University scientist Sheila Colla remembered as a fierce advocate to save wild bees
Colla, 43, died Sunday of cancer. She successfully fought for the rusty-patched bumblebee to become the first bee listed as an endangered species in Canada and the U.S.
www.thestar.com
Reposted by Dr. Emily S Choy (she/her), FRCGS
christyceeck.bsky.social
I'm sure many I know here remember Sheila from our days on X. I'm so sad to read this news. Her advocacy influenced my thinking and was part of the inspiration for my pollinators' garden.

What a loss to her family, community, bumblebees and science.

#GiftLink 🎁

www.thestar.com/news/gta/she...
Colla died on Sunday of mesothelioma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, at the age of 43. She is being remembered as both a brilliant scientist and a fierce advocate. 

As she published papers unravelling the mystery of why species like the rusty-patched bumblebee were disappearing, she took her fight to save wild bees directly to politicians and to the public at large. She was instrumental in helping create programs like the City of Toronto’s wildly popular pollinator garden grants, and fought for the rusty-patched bumblebee to become the first bee listed as an endangered species in Canada. 

Colla’s early death is a tragedy for conservation science, her colleagues say, and for her friends and family. She leaves behind a husband and two children.

They also say her legacy endures as an example of how scientists can fight beyond the lab to expand the reach of their work.
Reposted by Dr. Emily S Choy (she/her), FRCGS
ontarionature.bsky.social
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Sheila Colla – brilliant conservation scientist, tireless native pollinator advocate, and environmental justice champion. Her legacy will continue to guide Ontario Nature’s pollinator work.
bumblebeewatch.org
@savewildbees.bsky.social
emilyschoy.bsky.social
What an amazing group of scientists! It was such an honour to be a speaker for the “insights from biologging & conservation physiology” session @sebiology.bsky.social conference in Antwerp! Thanks again for the invitation! @conphysjournal.bsky.social @staroddi.bsky.social #sebconference
andreafuller.bsky.social
A good day in Antwerp! #sebconference
emilyschoy.bsky.social
I’m excited to contribute to this session & share some of the research from the Middleton Island kittiwake heart rate project at my 1st @sebiology.bsky.social conference in Antwerp! Come & hear what my fantastic students @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social are doing to study seabird energetics!
emilyschoy.bsky.social
Beautiful long weekend in Bouchette!