Drew Weber

My position focuses around providing people with tools to identify birds, regardless of their background and expertise. The Cornell Lab has unique resources, from the huge eBird database of where birds occur, to the vast quantity of media archived in Macaulay Library, and we are uniquely able to bring those resources together with emerging technologies to create new and powerful ways for people to learn about the birds around them.

I spend most of my time coordinating the Merlin Bird ID project. I work with a team of content editors in Macaulay Library, and authors and birders around the world to bring Merlin’s ID help to new birds and new regions. I also lead the development team in dreaming up and implementing new features for Merlin to help users identify birds, whether it’s their first bird or their life list is over 5,000.

Additionally, I manage web development projects that span across eBird and Macaulay Library, focusing on making our vast data resources easy to access and interpret, and to improve the quality and quantity of data being submitted each year.

I’ve been birding since I was a kid and love anything with birding and technology, so I feel fortunate to combine these two things every day.

Prior to working, I helped manage the BirdLog app (precursor to eBird Mobile) and BirdsEye Bird Finding Guide. These were my first forays into bird apps, and I haven’t looked back!

Recent Publications:

Santonja, P., I. Mestre, S. Weidensaul, D. Brinker, S. Huy, N. Smith, T. Mcdonald, M. Blom, D. Zazelenchuck, D. Weber, G. Gauthier, et al. (2018). Age composition of winter irruptive Snowy Owls in North America. Ibis. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12647

Therrien, J.-F., S. Weidensaul, D. Brinker, S. Huy, T. Miller, E. Jacobs, D. Weber, T. McDonald, M. Lanzone, N. Smith, and N. Lecomte (2017). Winter use of a highly diverse suite of habitats by irruptive Snowy Owls. Northeastern Naturalist:B81–B89.