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Raptor Research Center Showcases Expertise at International Conference

Doctoral candidate student gives verbal presentation to audience at RRF conference in Costa Rica
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior doctoral student Ashley Santiago gives verbal presentation to an audience at the RRF conference in Costa Rica

More than 25 members of the Boise State University Raptor Research Center community attended the 2025 annual conference of the Raptor Research Foundation that was held in San José, Costa Rica, October 12-18.

Undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, and recent alumni presented research, attended sessions, and promoted the work of the Raptor Research Center and Boise State at the conference with approximately 300 international attendees. Boise State presentations covered topics such as adaptive capacity to climate change, morphology and migration, breeding behavior and success, species management and mitigation and more.

Raptor biology student stands to the side of research poster, explaining it to conference attendee
M.S. Raptor Biology student and International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) participant Anna Connington discusses her research poster with a conference attendee

In addition to networking and scientific sessions, conference attendees had the opportunity to appreciate the rich biodiversity of Costa Rica through field trips and visits to the Talamanca Hawkwatch (link to Facebook page) raptor monitoring site, where thousands of North American raptors migrate each fall.

RRC employees standing by the Raptor Research Center vendor table at RRF conference, Costa Rica
RRC Director Julie Heath and Research Center Administrator Stacey Smith standing by the Raptor Research Center vendor table at the RRF conference in Costa Rica