RESEARCH
  My main research interest is gaining insight into the biological processes that shape the diversity of life history strategies and the mechanisms that underly them. Because humans have rapidly increased the pace of environmental change and altered relationships between cues and fitness in fundamental ways, it is imperative to understand the basic mechanisms underlying organismal responses in addition to the long-term conservation consequences of these changes. Accordingly, my research lies at the intersection of physiological ecology, animal behavior, statistical analysis, remote sensing, and electrical engineering and integrates tools from each of these disparate topics. In my previous research, which has spanned from large-scale analyses spanning decades of historical data to contemporary field studies in nestbox populations to controlled laboratory experiments, I have focused on the evolutionary origins, drivers, and maintenance of phenotypic trait variation that play a role the timing of life history decisions associated with fitness and survival. To date, I have examined species’ responses to human-induced rapid environmental change by focusing on three related research avenues: 1) the use of environmental cues and selection for the timing of life history events like reproduction, especially under climate change, and 2) species’ and individuals’ responses to changing environments through developmental phenotypic plasticity and selection upon developmentally-expressed traits at subsequent stages throughout animals’ life cycles. In addition, as the third research focus, I have continually developed new technical tools that provide novel insights into these questions.

Individual-based Dispersal

MOVEMENT BASED ON INDIVIDUAL TRAITS

Movement of juvenile individuals to their first breeding site, as well as adults changing breeding sites from one year to the next, is fundamental to generation and maintenance of biodiversity. As dispersal can generate gene flow between often distant populations, it can directly shape the structure of communities, the maintenance of genetic connectivity between disparate populations, and rates of speciation. What are the common mechanisms in determining dispersal decisions across species?

Cues and the Timing of Life History Events

Early life effects on Life history Trajectories

For species on the move, the timing of events such as migration departure or the initiation of reproduction is an important component of fitness. Because the habitats that individuals use throughout the year are often separated by both space and time, they rely on indirect information from the environment about distant conditions. To what extent does an organisms past determine and shape the response to information from the environment?

Movement Tracking Technology

microelectronics and the Drivers of migration

Despite the vast ornithological literature, considerable gaps in knowledge still exist regarding in understanding the individuals drivers of movement. This is due, in part, to the historical limitations on the mass and size of electronics in addition to battery life.  Recent advances in consumer electronics have provided the components to develop new tools providing insight into the secret lives of animals. 

Insect Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Insect communities and the resources they provide

Insects and their predators are experiencing some of the greatest population declines and losses of diversity. Species richness and overall abundance varies in insect communities both within and across habitats, and urbanization tends to negatively impact both dimensions. As insects provide a conduit transporting both nutrients and energy across trophic levels and between realms and many species are reliant on insects as their main source of food for themselves and their offspring, understanding the links between insect diversity and they role they play in ecosystem function is paramount in an era of rapid environmental change.

 

Phenological Shifts due to Climate Change

Changes in the quality and quantity of resources

From spring flowers blooming when snow used to cover the ground to migratory birds arriving on their breeding grounds and laying their eggs earlier, phenological advancements are one of the most consistent and widespread organismal responses to increasing global temperatures. Numerous studies have documented these shifts in timing, often finding that organisms at lower trophic levels, such as plants or insects, are advancing faster than those at higher trophic levels. Though we know that consumers need a diversity of nutrients as well as energy, phenological mismatches have typically focused on the timing of resources in terms of biomass or energy, rather than on the timing of specific nutrient availability.

Early Life Effects on the Phenotype

THe lasting imprint of the developmental environment

Starting at an nascent embryonic state, there is a certain amount of uncertainty in the developmental environment. Animals respond to cues in their environment that provide reliable information, increasing their chances of survival. Early life effects have the potential to be long lasting, however we know little of what happens after chicks leave the nest.