Shorebirds arriving in Alaska’s Upper Cook Inlet have a lot on their plates. Straight from a grueling 10,000-mile migration, they must make the most of the all-too-brief boreal spring and summer to try and raise chicks. Some are successful—their chicks fledge in late summer and integrate into the population. But many breeding attempts fail. Which wetland breeding grounds yield success? Even more important: Why? Up to now, these questions have not been answered. This spring, researchers are working to identify the factors that determine success versus failure for breeding shorebirds in the wetland areas of Cook Inlet. What makes a site good for shorebird breeding? How many good sites do we have in the region? The collaborative project is led by Dr. Nathan Senner, who grew up in Anchorage and is now a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.…