Bernadette Rigley is a conservation ecologist and postdoctoral fellow who leads applied research focused on the ecology and conservation of grassland birds, one of the most imperiled avian groups in North America. She oversees field-based studies that integrate behavioral, population, and movement ecology with working-lands conservation to identify drivers of population decline and develop actionable, science-based habitat management strategies. Her work is grounded in partnerships with landowners and livestock producers, agencies, and conservation organizations to translate ecological research into practical conservation outcomes and support evidence-based decision-making across agricultural landscapes. She is passionate about mentoring students and early-career scientists and values creating hands-on training opportunities that build technical skills and foster the next generation of conservation leaders.

Rigley earned a bachelor's degree in Wildlife Management from SUNY Cobleskill and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Policy from George Mason University. Before joining the Virginia Working Landscapes program, she enjoyed life as an itinerant field biologist for several years, studying avian community response to silviculture in Virginia, winter survival and movements of prothonotary warblers in Panama, and breeding ecology of endemic loggerhead shrikes in the Channel Islands, to name a few. Rigley also completed a small tenure in the private sector as a consulting biologist. During that time, she conducted surveys for threatened and endangered species and drafted documents for review under the National Environmental Policy Act.