Past Research

Effects of Contaminants on Behavioral Variation

During my PhD, I examined behavioral syndrome structure and personality variation in regards to development, sex differences, and effects of human disturbances (e.g. pesticide application) on syndromes and personalities. I showed evidence for changes in behavioral correlations between jumping spider populations from an insecticide-exposed and insecticide-free orchard (Ethology 2014) and that direct exposure to a sublethal dose of organophosphate can have a profound effect on personality differences related to activity and prey capture (Functional Ecology 2015). Finally, I provided a conceptual framework by which effects of contaminant on behavioral variation in wildlife can be better understood (Animal Behavior 2014).

Phenotypic Integration among Behavior, Physiology and Life-History Traits

As a postdoctoral researcher at NDSU, I focused on how strongly behavior correlates with other trait categories such as metabolic rate (Animal Behavior 2015) or animal constructions (J. Evol. Biol. 2018). Using meta-analyses, I showed that behavioral traits are heritable (J. Heredity 2019) but fail to conform to predictions of a “slow-fast” pace-of-life axis (Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 2018). I also showed that environmental factors such as diet quality have the potential to profoundly reshape the strength and direction of correlations between behaviors and life-history (Behav. Ecol. 2017; Anim. Behav. 2019)

Quantitative Genetics and Evolutionary Constraints of Behavioral Syndromes

With collaborators Ned Dochtermann (NDSU) and Ann Hedrick (UC Davis), we investigated how behavioral correlations arise and are maintained in Western Field crickets. We showed that genetic variation in behavior is strongly aligned among isolated populations (Proc. B) and even within different species (J. Evol. Biol.).

Movement Ecology and Species Interactions

Since 2020, I have initiated collaborations with movement ecologists to better understand how individual differences in activity are expressed under natural conditions. These collaborations have shown a high degree of individual differences in the predictability of brown bears (J. Animal Ecol. 2021) and in how ungulate negotiate fence crossing in human-altered landscapes (J. Animal Ecol. 2023). I was also involved with the Nature 4.0 project as a postdoctoral researcher at the Senckenberg Institute. There, I focused on methods for classifying daily activity in bats and forest birds using novel approaches for VHF tracking of vertebrate communities (Methods Ecol. Evol. 2023).