Stony Brook University announced that Professor Heather J. Lynch has been awarded the 2024 Golden Goose Award for her research on Antarctic penguins. The award recognizes unconventional research that leads to significant scientific discoveries. Professor Lynch, a faculty member in the Department of Ecology and Evolution, shares this honor with former postdoctoral fellow Christian Che-Castaldo and Mathew Schwaller.
The project, titled "From Poop to Protection: Satellite Discoveries Help Save Antarctic Penguins and Advance Wildlife Monitoring," was funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA. It involved tracking penguin populations through satellite imagery, resulting in the discovery of 1.5 million previously undocumented Adélie penguins.
The Golden Goose Award is hosted annually by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and celebrates federally funded research that may initially appear obscure but results in major breakthroughs. Carl Lejuez, Provost and Executive Vice President at Stony Brook University, remarked, “This is a tremendous honor for Professor Lynch. The Golden Goose recognizes that scientific discovery may not always follow a conventional path.”
Professor Lynch expressed her excitement about the recognition, stating, “I’m hugely honored to have our work recognized in this way, and I remain as excited about the potential of satellite imagery as I was when we started this more than a decade ago.” Her research focuses on monitoring Antarctic wildlife using remote sensing technology.
Her work has influenced policy decisions regarding Antarctica's protection, including the creation of a new Antarctic Specially Protected Area following her discovery of a significant penguin population in the Danger Islands with co-awardee Mathew Schwaller.
To learn more about Professor Lynch's award-winning research, visit YouTube.