On Wednesday, November 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, NYSDEC wildlife biologist Josh Stiller will speak about “The use of technology in monitoring migratory birds in the Atlantic Flyway.” He’ll discuss his work in tagging and researching migratory waterfowl in New York State. Registration is required. Please register for this program at https://sspl.libcal.com/event/10786896.

Stiller will discuss how the NYSDEC and other state, provincial, and federal agencies in the Atlantic Flyway are using technology to study the life history, demographics, and movements of migratory birds from northern Canada to Florida.

Stiller will cover on-going projects that use GPS transmitters, light-level recorders, and UAVs  (unmanned aerial vehicles, such as drones) to monitor Mallards, Black Ducks, Brant, and Canada Geese.

His duties involve overseeing the small game program (turkeys, ducks, geese, furbearers, etc.) from the NYSDEC office in Albany. Stiller collaborates with governmental, academic, and non-profit partners on applied research to help better manage wildlife populations and habitat for the small game species that inhabit New York State and the Atlantic Flyway.  

Stiller earned his Master of Science degree in Wildlife Science and Management at the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry. He studied the movements and diets of Common Mergansers on trout streams in southeastern New York. His professional experience has taken him to the prairie pothole region of North Dakota, to the middle of Delaware Bay capturing sea ducks in the middle of winter, and all the way to Baffin Island in the Arctic Circle.