Behavior
There are so many interesting behaviors across the animal kingdom, and my research only touches on some of them. I'm mostly interested in mixed-species interactions (including play, dominance, and aggression), but I am also very interested in using these behaviors to measure animal welfare under human care.
Mixed-Species
Responses to Playbacks
Dr. Todd Freeberg and I were interested in how species within stable mixed-species flocks respond to playbacks simulating the presence of another mixed-species group or single-species groups, and how each species' social role within the flock may affect the responses.
Hamster Play
& Dominance
I worked with the Cooper Lab at UTK to study how early life exposure to play influences the formation of dominance hierarchies later in life and whether play affects anxiety responses after stressful encounters. The Cooper Lab is also interested in the neuroscience of stress and dominance.
Animal Welfare
My research with the Chicago Zoological Society and the Smithsonian National Zoological Park involved collecting behavioral data to examine the welfare of their collections. I collected baseline data on 23 species in Chicago and helped the zoo staff measure and reduce a chronic behavioral problem in a sea lion in Washington, D.C. As a volunteer at Zoo Knoxville, I helped record data on foraging behaviors and exhibit use in their African elephants.
