In 1952, Graham Cooch established the first modern studies of the breeding biology of snow geese. He conducted ground studies on the west coast of Hudson Bay, Southampton Island, and Baffin Island. He pioneered the study of almost every aspect of their biology, including color morphs, genetics, pairing and reproductive behaviour, annual variation and habitats. He conducted the first quantitative surveys of lesser snow goose population size in the eastern arctic and he adapted Inuit techniques for summer harvest of flightless geese to the purpose of mass banding for studies of migration and winter distribution.