My dissertation
I’m interested in cross-scale comparisons of the patterns and mechanisms of biodiversity loss. Bird species are typically my focus, especially because some of the best broad-scale biodiversity datasets are on birds, which allows me to leverage my quantitative skillset to answer key questions, like: How can we use long-term, crowdsourced data to characterize the temporal dynamics of species and communities? How can we embrace complexity to uncover emergent patterns of biodiversity loss, and are those patterns generalizable and actionable?
I’ve started to answer these questions across the following chapters of my Ph.D. dissertation:
North American bird declines are driven by reductions in common species (published in Science Advances, and covered by Audubon Magazine)
Drivers of stability in declining North American birds (paper in prep.)
Rarity in North American birds (paper in prep.)
My motivating questions
What patterns emerge during biodiversity loss, and how can we use them to understand the causes and consequences of loss?
How can we develop and refine theoretical frameworks to match the increasingly vast scale of the data we collect?
Publications
Dupont, G. & Dobson, A. (2025). North American bird declines are driven by reductions in common species. Science Advances, 11(31), eadw8971.
Alvarenga, G. C., Tobler, M. W., Boron, V., de Carvalho Jr, E. A. R., Morato, R. G., Endo, W., ... Dupont, G. ... & da Costa, M. O. (2025). Jaguar (Panthera onca) density and population size across protected areas and indigenous lands in the Amazon biome, its largest stronghold. Biological Conservation, 303, 111010.
Reinoso-Pérez, M. T., Dhondt, K. V., Levitskiy, A. A., Dupont, G., Tulman, E. R., Geary, S. J., & Dhondt, A. A. (2023). Are Purple Finches (Haemorhous purpureus) the Next Host for a Mycoplasmal Conjunctivitis Epidemic?. Avian Diseases, 67(1), 42-48.
Dupont, G., Linden, D. W., & Sutherland, C. (2022). Improved inferences about landscape connectivity from spatial capture–recapture by integration of a movement model. Ecology, 103(10), e3544.
Sayers, C. J., Roeder, M. R., Forrette, L. M., Roche, D., Dupont, G. L., Apgar, S. E., ... & Bonter, D. N. (2021). Geographic variation of mercury in breeding tidal marsh sparrows of the northeastern United States. Ecotoxicology, 30(9), 1929-1940.
Dupont, G., Royle, J. A., Nawaz, M. A., & Sutherland, C. (2021). Optimal sampling design for spatial capture–recapture. Ecology, 102(3), e03262.
Scientists are perennially aware that it is best not to trust theory until it is confirmed by evidence. It is equally true ... that it is best not to put too much faith in facts until they have been confirmed by theory.
– Robert MacArthur (fun fact: we share a birthday!)
