Silas is an integrative, mechanistic biologist whose research spans ecophysiology, global change biology, & terrestrial animal ecology.
Silas Eider Fischer is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University. Their research broadly focuses on how environmental stressors shape animal physiology and fitness, and how these mechanisms scale to drive population dynamics, especially in overlooked birds (dull, drab, and geographically distant birds often end up being under-studied relative to their brightly colored counterparts…check out our paper on ornithological research biases!). Silas integrates their science and art practices to explore gender and queerness and to engage the public in biodiversity conservation. They are also a co-organizer of The Wildlife Society’s Out in the Field LGBTQ+ initiative — learn more here!
Silas is currently studying migration ecology and ecophysiology of Cerulean Warblers in collaboration with the Southern Indiana Cerulean Warbler BirdScape. Silas’ recent dissertation investigated how dryland songbirds respond to climate change by integrating both field and lab methods in ecophysiology and demography. Specifically, they studied consequences of drought for post-fledging survival, ecophysiology, and population dynamics in Gray Vireos.
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