Kristen Ruegg is an associate professor of biology at Colorado State University. Her research involves using genomic tools to track migratory birds across space and time and to understand how these animals may fare with environmental change.  

In addition, she uses genetic tools to inform captive breeding programs for declining or endangered birds.  

Ruegg’s lab works with collaborators within and outside of academia as part of the Bird Genoscape Project, which aims to create comprehensive flyway maps for birds that can be used to motivate conservation efforts and show how these populations can adapt to climate change.  

Ruegg received a Ph.D in integrative biology from the University of California Berkeley.

Her research has been published in Nature Climate Change, Molecular Ecology and more.