🐼11. 16 Panda Base SE: Training Session with Dr.Sarah M. Bexell

We had a training session with Dr. Sarah M. Bexell, a Clinical Professor and Faculty Director at the Center for Sustainability, Denver University. She gave a lecture on animal sentience. Her examples, especially how trees communicate with birds through root signals, were eye-opening—even for me as a bird lab and migration ringing station volunteer.

Her talk changed my perspective on animal and plant sentience. I used to be unsure about animals' cognitive abilities, but her examples convinced me of their intelligence, far beyond what humans often assume.

Our lab’s recent Bird Breeding Survey in Chengdu this summer revealed birds adapting to climate change. From observations across 1,241 sample areas, we saw breeding patterns shift two months earlier. This directly connects to her presentation, showing how animals adjust to human-caused environmental changes.

Bird sentience fascinates me. But it’s frustrating to see human actions forcing these adaptations, showing how little we consider the lives of other species—including our own.