Suffolk Reporter

Stony Brook University announced that Professor Heather J. Lynch has been awarded the 2024 Golden Goose Award. This recognition is for her unconventional research that led to significant discoveries in wildlife monitoring. Lynch, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook's College of Arts and Sciences, was acknowledged for her project titled "From Poop to Protection: Satellite Discoveries Help Save Antarctic Penguins and Advance Wildlife Monitoring." The project, funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA, introduced a method to track penguin populations using satellite imagery. This led to the discovery of 1.5 million previously undocumented Adélie penguins.

Professor Lynch shares this award with Christian Che-Castaldo, a former postdoctoral fellow at Stony Brook's Institute for Advanced Computation Science (IACS), and Mathew Schwaller. In addition to her role as a professor, Lynch serves as the inaugural director of Stony Brook’s Collaborative for the Earth.

The Golden Goose Award highlights federally funded research that initially seems unconventional but results in significant scientific breakthroughs. Hosted annually by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), it underscores the value of basic research in advancing knowledge.

Carl Lejuez, Provost and Executive Vice President at Stony Brook University, stated, “This is a tremendous honor for Professor Lynch. The Golden Goose recognizes that scientific discovery may not always follow a conventional path. Innovation is a hallmark of Stony Brook research, and Professor Lynch’s extraordinary research and dedication to addressing climate change is a stellar example.”

Professor Lynch expressed her gratitude by saying, “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. I think we’ve only just scratched the surface of its potential for research and conservation.”

Lynch's work focuses on monitoring Antarctic wildlife through remote sensing techniques. Her efforts with co-awardee Mathew Schwaller led to identifying a significant penguin population in Danger Islands, resulting in establishing an Antarctic Specially Protected Area.

Lynch holds advanced degrees from Harvard University and Princeton University in organismic and evolutionary biology as well as physics.

For further details on Professor Lynch's award-winning research, interested individuals can visit YouTube.