Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society members and guests will hear from a UCLA professor about female birds their next meeting this week.

PhD candidate Joanna Wu from the University of California-Los Angeles will present “The Galbatross Project: Studying Female Bird Populations,” slated for 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, in the Rainshadow Hall at Dungeness River Nature Center, 1943 W. Hendrickson Road.

Wu, an ornithologist and ecologist studying conservation gaps caused by overlooking female birds, will share insights from her current research. She said she is passionate about supporting underrepresented voices.

Wu is a member of the “Galbatross” Project, group of scientists, birders, writers and conservationists spreading awareness about often overlooked female birds.

Photo by Graham Montgomery / Joanna Wu presents “The Galbatross Project: Studying Female Bird Populations” at the Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society meeting on Sept. 18.

Wu focused on the endemic thrush ‘Ōma‘o during her masters studies at the University of Hawai‘i-Hilo. From 2013-2016, she worked for the Institute for Bird Populations in the San Francisco Bay Area as a biologist specializing in song birds and owls of the Sierra Nevada, where she got her start into ornithology as an undergraduate at the University of California-Berkeley.

From 2016-2021, she worked on climate change analysis and communications at the National Audubon Society.