In her talk, Kim relates her love of science, nature, and birds to the current climate crisis and its implications for biodiversity.  She shares her personal response to the climate crisis from her perspective as a parent, a birder, and a professional ornithologist, and closes her talk with a serious but empowering message, outlining a “Simple 5 Point Plan” that bird-lovers can use to organize their own response to climate change.

Originally from upstate New York, Bostwick received her PhD from the University of Kansas in 2002, and since then has worked as the curator of birds and mammals at Cornell University.  Bostwick’s research has focused on bird behavior and evolution, allowing her to travel throughout Central and South America, as well as to South Africa, and Papua New Guinea.  In 2005 Bostwick was featured in Nature’s Deep Jungles three-part series, where she danced like a Red-capped Manakin to the tune of Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean”.  This clip of video was extracted and posted to YouTube, where it went viral and has been viewed millions of times, spawned many knock-offs, and brought great fame and many fans to a very deserving, but otherwise little known bird.  Her research on the Club-winged Manakin was featured in National Geographic in May of 2012.  Recently, spurred by the birth of her own two children, Bostwick decided to reorient her career to become more active in science outreach, specifically as it relates to climate change. She is now using her scientific literacy and communication skills to translate climate science for general audiences, with the specific goal of motivating behavioral changes through science-based story-telling.