Ben Novak

Bringing Back the Passenger Pigeon



Ben Novak

BRINGING BACK THE PASSENGER PIGEON

Ben Novak graduated from Montana State University as one of the first to enter and graduate from the Ecology and Evolution option, where he specialized in paleontology, genetics, ecology and ornithology. He’s been part of an assortment of projects involving identifying diagnostic SNP’s in trout populations, genetic diversity in prairie tiger salamanders, and analysis of biomolecules and bacteria found in dinosaur fossils. He finally broke into his desired field of ancient DNA at the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, under Dr. Hendrik Poinar, gaining experience via exploring DNA extraction and sequencing of Mastodon fossils – the project now underway to be carried further by more researchers. Passenger pigeons and the possibility of de-extinction within the columbid family has been his passion, and he has pursued work with the species for the past 4 years, reaching his personal breakthrough recently. He is currently a prospective graduate student pursuing PhD programs to continue his de-extinction oriented work, while also working full time  on “The Great Comeback”, the project to bring the extinct passenger pigeon back to life.

Talks

Bringing Back the Passenger Pigeon By Ben Novak

Ben Novak discusses why the passenger pigeon is a useful bird and how important they were to the ...