Research Interests

I'm investigating the form and function of the communication system employed by caterpillars that live symbiotically with ants. Previously I've studied the vocal repertoires of wild parrots in Mexico, and the relationship between population structure and vocal variation. Other interests include the study of sexual dimorphism, and community ecology and conservation, and bioacoustics. I have additional experience studying genetic variation, kin recognition, and sexual selection.

Awards and Honors

2002 Travel and Study Grant Recipient, Society for Mathematical Biology

1999 Organismic & Evolutionary Biology Graduate Research Grant, Harvard

1997 Ark Foundation grant

1996 Organismic & Evolutionary Biology Graduate Research Grant, Harvard

1996 Principle Investigator, "Mexico's Wild Parrots," Earthwatch Institute

1995 Fulbright Scholar, to Mexico

1994 Fundacion Mexico en Harvard award

1993 James Snitzler Scholarship

1992 NSF Traveling Fellowship (to NATO ASI conference)

1992 Sheldon Traveling Fellowship

1990-5 NIH Genetics Training Grant recipient

1989-90 Special Student status, Harvard College

1987-90 Dean's List, Harvard Extension School

1984 New York State Regents Scholar

1983 National Merit Scholarship Commendation

Presentation, and Professional Meetings, Publications

2003 Avian Welfare Coalition, Public Seminar, Minneapolis, MN. Invited speaker

2003 Big Apple Bird Club, NYC. Invited speaker; led field trip to see “Brooklyn’s Wild Parrots”

2002 Avian Welfare Coalition, Arlington VA. Invited speaker

2002 Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. Invited speaker

2002 Big Apple Bird Club. Invited speaker

2002 Department of Ornithology, Harvard. Invited speaker

2002 Society for Mathematics and Biology (student participant)

2001 Meeting of the Nuttall Ornitholgical Club, Harvard. Invited speaker

2000 Central Jersey Bird Club, NJ. Invited speaker

2000 Parrot Education and Adoption Center (PEAC) Colloquium, San Diego CA. Invited speaker

1999 Parrot Seminar, San Jose, CA. Invited speaker

1999 Long Island Parrot Society, NY. Invited speaker

1999 National Capital Bird Club, Washington DC. Invited speaker

1998 Pet Bird Seminar, Seattle, WA. Invited speaker

1998 Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, Monterrey, CA. Invited speaker

1999 Connecticut Association For Aviculture, CN. Invited speaker

1998 The Real Macaw Bird Club, NJ Invited speaker

1998 Massachusetts Cage Bird Association, MA. Invited speaker

1998 Big Apple Bird Club, NY. Invited speaker

1998 New Hampshire Avicultural Society, NH. Invited speaker

1998 UMASS Boston Graduate Seminar, MA. Invited speaker

1998 "Stalking the Wild Amazons," a one-hour documentary about the natural behavior of wild Yellow-headed amazon parrots. Filmed, edited, scored, narrated. Distributed commercially and for educational purposes. Film.

1996 Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Palo Alto, CA: "Evolution of Vocalizations in Parrots: Evidence from the Wild." Invited speaker

1996 Center for Field Research (Earthwatch) PI Conference, Harvard "The Demise of Mexico's Parrots: Loving them to Death?" Invited speaker

1995 International Ethological Conference, Honolulu HI."Evolution of Vocalizations in Parrots: Evidence from the Wild"

1995 Neotropical Ornithological Society meeting, Paraguay.

"Field Methods in Psittacine Research" (2nd author with E. Enkerlin)

1994-6 Deposit of psittacine recordings into Cornell Library of Natural Sounds.

1994 Animal Behavior Society conference, Seattle, WA.

1992 NATO ASI: "The Ethological Roots of Culture," Cortona, Italy

Student participant in two-week workshop

1991 Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, Amer. Mus. of Nat. History.

"DNA fingerprinting reveals high levels of genetic variability in the American toad." (Bruce Waldman, 2nd author.)

1990 "DNA Fingerprinting in Forensic Science" conference at UCLA

Teaching Experience

1995-98 Teaching Fellow, Biology 22: Animal Behavior (Head TF in 97)

1991 & '92 Teaching Fellow, Biology 19: Ecology

1990 Teaching Fellow, Biology 2: Organismic and Evolutionary Biology;

1989 Private math tutor

Research Associate

Center for the Study of Tropical Birds, San Antonio, Texas

Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas, Mexico

Membership

World Parrot Trust International

Asso ciation for Parrot Conservation

Nuttall Ornithological Club

Avian Welfare Coalition

Society for Mathematical Biology

Society of Caribbean Ornithology (past)

Animal Behavior Society (past)

Dissertation Advisors

Naomi Pierce

Evan Balaban

Bruce Waldman

International Travel Experience

Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Peru, Venezuela, East Africa, Western Europe

Additional Skills and Abilities

&nbs p; Certified scuba diver; moderate proficiency in Spanish and French; videography; website management; compositions for guitar and bass; carpentry; and I can fix a jeep a hundred miles from anywhere.