I was always interested in animal behaviour but I didn’t discover my love for birds and birdsong until I started my Master’s at the University of Windsor in 2014. My Master’s project focused on the ‘dear enemy’ effect in songbirds which occurs when territorial animals respond more aggressively to strangers than to neighbours. Since then, I have worked on many different projects including Rufous-and-white Wren bioacoustics in Costa Rica, Black-capped Vireo conservation in Oklahoma, various monitoring projects in Honduras, Mexico, and Madagascar, bird banding at Long Point and Ottenby, and some consulting and governmental work.

In my research, I am most interested in animal communication and behaviour. What do different vocalizations mean? How do they vary across contexts? How do animals use communication to coordinate cooperation? My PhD will be focusing on Jackdaw communication. Jackdaws have complex social structure and a complex vocal repertoire and these two things may be interlinked. I will specifically be looking at how their vocalizations differ across a wide range of social contexts, the functions of different calls, and how pairs (or larger groups) communicate. This project will shed light on how these vocally complex corvids communicate.