Autobiography
After graduating in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University in 2000, I did my doctoral dissertation work on the patterns and mechanisms of song evolution in white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) in the Nowicki lab at Duke University (2001-2007). Recently, I joined the Museum of Natural Science at LSU as a postdoctoral research associate. I am collaborating with Robb Brumfield and Van Remsen at the museum to reconstruct a phylogeny of the South American radiaion of Furnariidae. We are also working with Nathalie Seddon and Joseph Tobias at the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology at Oxford University to examine the patterns and processes of vocal evolution in this extensive radiation of sub-oscines.
Research Overview
Mating signals act as behavioral barriers to gene flow in many taxa, and the ultimate goal of my research is to understand the processes that cause the evolution of these barriers. As the formation of behavioral barriers entails divergence both in mating signals and in signal recognition, I examine both the sources of selection acting on signal evolution and how these processes affect signal efficacy in reproductive contexts. My research focuses on bird song and integrates among several levels of biological organization. I address patterns of song evolution and recognition both within populations of a model organism, the white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), as well as among species of the South American radiation of Furnariidae.
Current projects
Ecology shapes birdsong evolution in white-crowned sparrows.
Patterns and mechanisms of vocal evolution in the Furnariidae radiation.
