Studying social structure and the evolution of sociality
Consultant — Guanacaste, Costa Rica
I assisted my lab-mate Alejandro Salinas-Melgoza in his PhD work on call learning in Amazona auropalliata (yellow-naped amazon). I helped develop and implement techniques to capture adult bird, and taught the team how to rig aerial mist nets, how to extract parrots from the nets, and how to handle them.… [Read full details]
Educator, HawkWatch International, Goshute Mountains, Nevada
Conducted educational outreach at field site, presented talks to visitors about raptor biology, assisted with trapping and migration counts
Map tile by Stamen Design, under CC BY 3.0. Data by OpenStreetMap, under CC BY SA.… [Read full details]
Research Assistant, University of Hawaii — Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge, Hawaii
I worked as a bird bander at the Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge on the Big Island of Hawaii from January to August 2005. I assisted on a long-term study of distribution, movements, and disease in Hawaiian honeycreepers.… [Read full details]
Research Assistant, Cornell University — Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
From September to December 2004 I assisted Susannah Buhrman-Deever in her Ph.D. research on behavior of Aratinga pertinax, the brown-throated parakeet (locally known as the “Prikichi”). I captured parakeets in mist nets, took blood samples, observed behavior, recorded vocalizations, and conducted playback experiments.… [Read full details]
Supervising Biologist, MAPS Program, Institute for Bird Populations –Siuslaw, Willamette, & Fremont National Forests, Oregon.
I trained interns in extraction, banding, aging and sexing techniques during an intensive two-week training course, then supervised crews of interns at three banding stations.… [Read full details]
Research Assistant, Duke University, Tambopata Macaw Project Tambopata Research Center, Peru
From May to August 2003, I worked at the Tambopata Macaw Project, a long-term monitoring site in Peru run by Donald Brightsmith (now at Texas A&M). I collected data during observations of parrot behavior at the clay lick, conducted point counts, learned technical tree climbing techniques, and presented slide shows about research goals and findings to ecotourists.… [Read full details]
Bird bander, MAPS Program, Institute for Bird Populations — Umatilla National Forest, Oregon
Operated constant effort mist nets, banded birds
Map tile by Stamen Design, under CC BY 3.0. Data by OpenStreetMap, under CC BY SA.… [Read full details]
Research Assistant, University of Alaska Fairbanks — Lovango Cay & Leduck Island, U.S. Virgin Islands
I assisted Hector Douglas in his PhD research on the endangered roseate tern. I recorded foraging and chick feeding observations of colonial seabirds, handled juvenile and adult birds, and trapped adults.… [Read full details]