Dr. Christopher Filardi joined the CBC in the summer of 2005 as a biodiversity scientist for Pacific programs. Chris has a long history of conducting conservation and education activities, and biodiversity research in the Pacific region. He has, among other things, studied foraging behavior of Palm cockatoos in Papua New Guinea in an effort to expand CITES protection; worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society to set up one of the first community-based wildlife reserves in the country; and studied radiations of Pacific birds to clarify boundaries among species and begin unraveling the origins of pan-Pacific bird groups. Throughout his professional career, Chris has maintained a commitment to bridging his research interests with grassroots conservation. While not in New Guinea and the tropical Pacific, he helped establish natural history-based undergraduate student programs that integrate indigenous communities with wildlands conservation in threatened landscapes of western North America and Central America. He served as content coordinator for the CBC's 2006 spring symposium "Conserving Birds in Human-Dominated Landscapes: Weaving a Common Future." His current work at the CBC includes initiating seabird research on Palmyra atoll; and expanding his research and conservation work in the Solomon Islands to integrate research, education and community based protected area strategies across the archipelago. Chris received his Ph.D. in 2003 from the University of Washington, where he studied patterns of speciation and the biogeographic history of tropical Pacific flycatchers.

Representative Publications

Filardi, C. E., and C. E. Smith. 2005. Molecular phylogenetics of monarch flycatchers (genus Monarcha) with emphasis on Solomon Island endemics.  Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution  37(3): 776-778.

Filardi, C. E., and R. G. Moyle. 2005. Single origin of a pan-Pacific bird group and upstream colonization of Australasia.  Nature  438: 216-219.

Filardi, C. E., and J. Tewksbury. 2005. Ground-foraging palm cockatoos (Probosciger aterrimus) in lowland New Guinea: fruit flesh as a directed deterrent to seed predation?  Journal of Tropical Ecology 21: 355-361.

Filardi, C. E., C. E. Smith, A. W. Kratter, D. W. Steadman, and H. P. Webb. 1999.  New behavioral, ecological, and biogeographic data on the avifauna of Rennell, Solomon Islands.  Pacific Science  53(4): 319-340.