Consulting Director of Songbird Program

Amy extracts a Nashville Warbler from a mist net while conducting research at Spring Pond Bog in New York’s Adirondack Park.

Amy K. Sauer, M.S., Ph.D.

Consulting Director of Songbird Program
amy.sauer@briwildlife.org

Amy, the Consulting Director of BRI’s songbird program, has 13 years of experience monitoring, capturing, and sampling songbirds and Common Loons. She studies the Common Loon and migratory songbirds as wildlife indicator species to assess the effects of mercury deposition on Adirondack ecosystem. Her doctoral research focuses on the transfer of mercury through terrestrial food webs to songbird communities inhabiting northern hardwood forests, montane boreal forests, and Sphagnum bog habitats in the Adirondack Park.

In addition to field work, she gives public and scientific presentations; prepares reports, publications, and newsletters; and develops and presents school curricula.

Education & Certifications

  • Ph.D. Candidate, Biology, Syracuse University, 2014
  • M.S., Conservation Biology, Antioch University, 2006
  • B.A., Environmental Studies, University of Rochester, 1996

Research Interests 

  • Assessing the ecological effects of mercury deposition on Common Loon populations and Adirondack aquatic ecosystems
  • Investigating mercury bioaccumulation and exposure patterns within songbird communities and terrestrial foodwebs in the Adirondack Park and across the Northeastern landscape

Journal Articles

Adams, E. M., J. E. Gulka, Y. Yang, M. E. H. Burton, D. A. Burns, V. Buxton, L. Cleckner, C. R. DeSorbo, C. T. Driscoll, D. C. Evers, N. Fisher, O. Lane, H. Mao, K. Riva-Murray, G. Millard, N. R. Razavi, W. Richter, A. K. Sauer, & N. Schoch. 2023. Distribution and trends of mercury in aquatic and terrestrial biota of New York, USA: A synthesis of 50 years of research and monitoring. Ecotoxicology 32: 959-976.
Adams, E. M., A. K. Sauer, O. Lane, K. Regan, & D. C. Evers. 2020. The effects of climate, habitat, and trophic position on methylmercury bioavailability for breeding New York songbirds. Ecotoxicology 29: 1843-1861.
Perkins, M., O. P. Lane, D. C. Evers, A. Sauer, E. M. Adams, N. J. O’Driscoll, S. T. Edmunds, A. K. Jackson, J. C. Hagelin, J. Trimble, & E. M. Sunderland. 2020. Historical patterns in mercury exposure for North American songbirds. Ecotoxicology 29: 1161-1173. Available at http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10646-019-02054-w.
Sauer, A. K., C. T. Driscoll, D. C. Evers, E. M. Adams, & Y. Yang. 2020. Mercury exposure in songbird communities along an elevational gradient on Whiteface Mountain, Adirondack Park (New York, USA). Ecotoxicology 29: 1830-1842. Available at http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10646-020-02175-7.
Sauer, A. K., C. T. Driscoll, D. C. Evers, E. M. Adams, & Y. Yang. 2020. Mercury exposure in songbird communities within Sphagnum bog and upland forest ecosystems in the Adirondack Park (New York, USA). Ecotoxicology 29: 1815-1829. Available at http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10646-019-02142-x.
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Adams, E. M., A. K. Sauer, O. Lane, K. Regan, & D. C. Evers. 2019. The effects of climate, habitat, and trophic position on methylmercury bioavailability for breeding New York songbirds. Ecotoxicology.
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Jackson, A. K., D. C. Evers, E. M. Adams, D. A. Cristol, C. Eagles-Smith, S. T. Edmonds, C. E. Gray, B. Hoskins, O. P. Lane, A. Sauer, & T. Tear. 2015. Songbirds as sentinels of mercury in terrestrial habitats of eastern North America. Ecotoxicology 24: 453-467. Available at http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10646-014-1394-4.
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Schoch, N., A. K. Jackson, M. Duron, D. C. Evers, M. J. Glennon, C. T. Driscoll, X. Yu, H. Simonin, & A. K. Sauer. 2014. Wildlife criterion value for the Common Loon (Gavia immer) in the Adirondack Park, New York, USA. Waterbirds 37: 76-84. Available at http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1675/063.037.sp110.
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Schoch, N., M. J. Glennon, D. C. Evers, M. Duron, A. K. Jackson, C. T. Driscoll, J. W. Ozard, & A. K. Sauer. 2014. The impact of mercury exposure on the Common Loon (Gavia immer) population in the Adirondack Park, New York, USA. Waterbirds 37: 94-101. Available at http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1675/063.037.sp112.
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Siefert, A., C. Ravenscroft, D. Althoff, J. C. Alvarez-Yépiz, B. E. Carter, K. L. Glennon, J. M. Heberling, I. S. Jo, A. Pontes, A. Sauer, A. Willis, & J. D. Fridley. 2012. Scale dependence of vegetation-environment relationships: A meta-analysis of multivariate data Acosta, A. (ed). Journal of Vegetation Science 23: 942-951. Available at http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01401.x.