Amber Carver, PhD student in Integrative and Systems Biology, recently published a paper in Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation that quantifies the effect of severe storms on mortality in breeding bird populations. Amber's study demonstrates how weather radar data can be used to quantify intensity of hailstorms and the extent to which intensity of hailstorms is related to nest loss in a population of grassland nesting birds, the most rapidly declining suite of bird species in North America. Amber's discovery provides scientists with a means for the indirect monitoring of demographic impacts as the frequency and severity of storms changes across the Great Plains.