Current Lab Members

	Elizabeth Hobson, PI (Email) (Google Scholar) Research interests: My research focuses on the evolution of decision-making, social cognition, complex sociality, social networks, and dominance hierarchies. Bio: I received my PhD in 2013 from New Mexico State University, where I worked with Tim Wright. I then was awarded two independent postdoctoral fellowships. I spend 2014-2016 as a postdoc at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS) at the University of Tennessee, and 2016-2019 as a postdoc at the Santa Fe Institute. I joined the faculty at UC in 2019 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. I was promoted to Associate Professor in 2024. I am also an Associate Editor for the journal Ornithology (formerly Auk: Ornithological Advances) and one of the founding Associate Editors for the new journal npj Complexity. You can read more about me here.
	Sanjay Prasher (Email) (Google Scholar) PhD candidate, started Jan 2020 Expected graduation in Spring 2025 Bobwhite quail team leader 2021–2024
	Claire O’Connell (Email) PhD student, started Fall 2020 Monk parakeet crew member: 2020, 2021, 2022
	Xavier Francis (Email) PhD student, started Fall 2020 Monk parakeet crew member: 2021, 2022
	Chelsea Carminito (Email) (Google Scholar) PhD student, started January 2021 Monk parakeet crew member: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
	Darby Moore PhD student & NSF Graduate Research Fellow, started Fall 2023 Monk parakeet crew member: 2022, 2023 Monk parakeet field crew leader: 2024
	Ashley Staab Masters student 2024– Bobwhite quail team leader 2024–

Lab Alumni

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Current & past Undergraduate students

Alexis Williams: Summer 2021 independent research project on bobwhite quail social learning and sociality, supported by UC ACCESS program
Austin Simon: member of Penguin Data Club 2020; independent research project on Little Blue Penguin sociality and leadership Spring 2021 (visit here for press coverage), supported by UC McNair Program
Shruti Parashar: member of Penguin Data Club 2019-2020; Fall 2020 capstone research project on Little Blue Penguin social stability

Penguin Data Club

Penguin Data Club, Spring 2020 (for more info, or to join PDC, click here)

Penguin Data Club Spring 2020 members pictured pre-pandemic: Miread Brandes, Vivien Dell, Breanah Reid, Maria Kurre, Audrey Laiveling, Nathan Pack, Shruti Parashar, Kristian Sills

Penguin Data Club, Fall 2019 (for more info, or to join PDC, click here)

Field trip to the Cincinnati Zoo to meet the penguins! Pictured left to right: Liz Hobson, Fall 2019 Undergraduate volunteer researchers: Emily Noeska, Breanah Reid, Grace Walters, Jonathan Bowden, Shruti Parashar, Nathan Pack, and Dr. Katie Kalafut and Rickey Kinley (Cincinnati Zoo). Not present at field trip, but part of the PDC, Kyle Costa

Field Crews

2023 Monk Parakeet Field Crew: Chelsea Carminito, Darby Moore, Holly Keating, Maddie Ball, Elizabeth Stayton

2022 Monk Parakeet Field Crew: Xavier Francis, Chelsea Carminito, Darby Moore, Nickolas Lormand, Annemarie van der Marel, Claire O’Connell

Spring/Summer 2021 Monk Parakeet Field Crew: Annemarie van der Marel, Claire O’Connell, Xavier Francis, Chelsea Carminito, Cesar Estien

Spring 2020 Monk Parakeet Field Crew: Liz Hobson, Annemarie van der Marel, Alexa, Chelsea Carminito, and Claire O’Connell (not pictured) — Photo taken just prior to pandemic

	Grace Smith-Vidaurre (Email) (Website) (Google Scholar) Currently an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2021-2024: Based full time at Rockefeller University, co-advised by Erich Jarvis and Liz Hobson
	Annemarie van der Marel (Feb 2020- Sept 2022) (Email) (Website) (Google Scholar) Postdoctoral Researcher Feb 2020–2022 Monk parakeet crew leader: 2020, 2021, 2022. Annemarie finished her postdoc in the lab and moved to a second postdoc in Chile, where she was awarded an independent 3-year postdoc fellowship.
^{Photo credit Lisa Hubbard}	Julie Barnes (Aug 2019 – July 2022) (Email) Current position: Postdoc at Cincinnati Zoo Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) Research interests while at UC: I am a veterinarian currently pursuing a master’s degree through a joint position between Cincinnati Zoo’s CREW and University of Cincinnati. My interests involve a mixture of assisted reproductive technologies and animal welfare. My current research is focused on the effects of housing on shelter cats’ welfare and behavior. * Julie was co-advised by me and Lindsey Vansandt, Cincinnati Zoo CREW, for her Masters work at UC (2019-2022)
	Cesar Estien (Email) (Website) (Google Scholar) Postbac, February-July 2021 Currently a PhD Student at UC Berkeley Monk parakeet crew member: 2021