STSM Voices | Elza Zacmane
Stories from EUFLYNET Short-Term Scientific Missions.
What does a Short-Term Scientific Mission look like through the eyes of a researcher?
In our STSM Voices series, we invite researchers to share their experiences of scientific exchanges within EUFLYNET. From exploring new methods and exchanging ideas to building collaborations across borders, each mission offers a unique opportunity for scientific and personal growth.
In this edition, Elza Zacmane shares her personal experience of taking part in an STSM.
During my Master’s studies at the University of Latvia, an EUFLYNET Short-Term Scientific Mission gave me the opportunity to visit the Swiss Ornithological Institute and advance the data analysis for my thesis. My research focused on Common Starlings and on what we can learn about their migratory strategies from stable isotopes in feathers, including populations in which some individuals undertake moult migration.
I had already been involved in the Starling project throughout both my Bachelor’s and Master’s studies. Together with our research group, we followed Latvian nest-box populations throughout the breeding season, collecting information on their breeding and behaviour. As part of the project, we also equipped birds with geolocators to track their movements after the breeding season. The stable isotope work was one part of this broader dataset, giving us another way to investigate where the birds go and how different individuals use different migratory strategies. What I found particularly interesting was that combining the isotope data with the geolocator data allowed us to look at migration in a much larger sample of birds than would have been possible from tracking alone. Together, these approaches gave us a broader picture of the different ways in which individuals from the same population move through the annual cycle.
The STSM gave me the opportunity to take this part of the project further in a new research environment. I was able to develop my analytical skills while working alongside researchers with expertise in migration ecology. The work carried out during the STSM became part of my Master’s thesis and later contributed to an article published in Ibis. I also had the opportunity to present this work at the 2025 European Ornithologists’ Union Conference in Bangor and at EOU Fledglings 2026 in Gdańsk.
The STSM was also my first step towards becoming an active member of EUFLYNET. Since then, I have attended the pre-conference meeting in Bangor, contributed to a paper-screening project on research into the demography of migratory birds, including an in-person meeting in Prague, and participated in the annual EUFLYNET meeting in Vienna. These experiences have helped me build connections with researchers and fellow early-career scientists working on bird migration, and have made the network feel like much more than a series of meetings and collaborations.
The experience has continued to shape my scientific path. I have since started a PhD project at the Swiss Ornithological Institute, bringing together EUFLYNET members as collaborators to track small migratory landbirds with geolocators across Europe. This work will form an important part of my PhD and will also contribute to our understanding of how birds allocate energy across their annual cycle. Looking back, the EUFLYNET network has been incredibly valuable at this stage of my career. The STSM came at a crucial point in my research, when I was developing both my scientific interests and my confidence as a researcher. Since then, the wider network has opened doors to new collaborations, ideas and friendships, and has given me a strong sense of being part of a community of researchers interested in understanding bird migration.
Science moves forward through people, shared ideas, and collaboration. Each STSM is a small part of that bigger picture.
Thank you to Elza for sharing this experience with us!
Follow our STSM Voices series to discover more personal stories from researchers across the EUFLYNET network.
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