Dr. Margaret Swift
  • home
  • about
  • research =
    • ✭ simulating african elephant movements ✭
    • ✭ mapping water for elephants ✭
    • antelope behaviors on a changing landscape
    • introduction to african savannas
  • outreach =
    • public talks
    • lesson plans & tutorials
    • teaching statement
    • nsf grfp advice
    • science writing
    • skype a scientist
  • perspectives =
    • those who made me
    • where i live & work
    • decolonization
    • land-grab universities
    • going beyond land acknowledgement
    • asexuality, imposter syndrome, and belonging
    • reading lists
  • art =
    • support small artists
    • short stories
    • poetry
    • photography
    • portraits
  • blog
 💬 selected blog posts  💬
04.15.26 when fancy isn't best
04.06.26 the personhood of nature
01.04.25 honesty
07.02.25 my rhinoceros teacher


wildlife conservation &
​animal movement ecology

my cv
research
email
📊 new preprint! 📊
"Mapping small-scale ephemeral surface water to inform transfrontier conservation planning in southern Africa"
[ read more ] [ preprint] [ StoryMap ]

Welcome! I'm Maggie Swift, an Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health in Ithaca, NY. My research interests include animal movements, savanna ecology, One Health, and computational approaches to wildlife management and conservation.

In my postdoctoral research with Dr. Steve Osofsky at Cornell's AHEAD program and Dr. Robin Naidoo at the WWF, I combine remote sensing and computer simulation to model African bush elephant movements in the Kavango-Zambezi TFCA. Check out my recorded talks on wildlife conservation for more of my past work.

Outside work, I write short fiction and data science tutorials; knit; play guitar; travel with friends; and update my blog. As a resident of lands stolen from the Gayogohó:nǫˀ Nation by New York State, I also strive to decolonize my science. I am happiest snapping photos in the African bush or waist-deep in Cascadilla Creek, stalking my subjects like a heron. 
​
Want to collaborate? Email me!
Home
About
Contact
​Margaret Swift
Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellow
Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health
Cornell University
​Ithaca, New York, USA
  • home
  • about
  • research =
    • ✭ simulating african elephant movements ✭
    • ✭ mapping water for elephants ✭
    • antelope behaviors on a changing landscape
    • introduction to african savannas
  • outreach =
    • public talks
    • lesson plans & tutorials
    • teaching statement
    • nsf grfp advice
    • science writing
    • skype a scientist
  • perspectives =
    • those who made me
    • where i live & work
    • decolonization
    • land-grab universities
    • going beyond land acknowledgement
    • asexuality, imposter syndrome, and belonging
    • reading lists
  • art =
    • support small artists
    • short stories
    • poetry
    • photography
    • portraits
  • blog