Noah Perlut, Ph.D., assistant professor of environmental studies, was the focus of a feature story in the May 26, 2010 Burlington Free Press (Vermont). The Free Press reporter and photographer accompanied Perlut and Vermont ornithologist Rosalind Renfrew on a research field trip on the morning of May 25th when they recovered a 3-year-old male bobolink carrying a tiny recording device packed with information new to science. 

When the contents are downloaded and analyzed, for the first time the scientists will be able to trace the precise route the yellow-headed songbird flew between Vermont and his unidentified wintering grounds in South America. “For the first time, we’ll know — did they get to Florida or Mississippi and stop and wait and wait and wait? Did they fly over the Gulf of Mexico? When did they do that? Then where did they go?” Perlut said. He has been studying bobolinks in Chittenden County, Vermont for nine years. Ultimately, data from this bird, and others banded in Nebraska and Oregon, might prove crucial for identifying the most-important habitats in the flyway and wintering grounds, allowing nations and conservation groups to set priorities for habitat protection. 

The story is accompanied by several photos of the researchers. Perlut's research on bobolinks was also featured in the November-December 2009 issue of the national Audubon Magazine.