I am interested in exploring the relationship between signal
interference in the environment and using multiple communication channels
(i.e., visual signals and auditory signals) to convey a message. I examined
this issue in the northern cardinal.
The origins of my interest in this topic have several roots.
First and foremost, I have always been drawn toward understanding behavior and
how the surrounding situation affects behavior. I have a M.A. in psychology and
worked as a research psychologist for 10 years. I returned to study biology at
the undergraduate level approximately three years ago with the goal of
integrating my love for behavioral research with my other passion – animals.
Upon taking a series of courses with Dr. David Luther, I became interested in
exploring how signal interference in the environment (e.g., traffic noise,
wind) affects the number and type of communication channels used by animals to
convey messages.
My proposed research project represents the first step
toward my broader educational and professional goals. I am interested in
studying the evolution of animal communication at the graduate level.
Specifically, I am interested in pursuing a doctoral degree in biology or a
related field. One day, I would like to work at a university where I would
conduct research on the evolution of animal communication and teach.
What I do in a given week changes depending on what stage I
am in the project. The planning stage included activities such as identifying
cardinal territories that have different levels of background noise. The data
collection phase involved, for example, a smart app to record the frequency of
cardinals’ acoustic and visual signals.
This week, I created a poster to present at the 2016
National Council on Undergraduate Research. During this process, I discovered
how difficult (but also fun) it is to translate thoughts into pictures. I
wanted passersby to be able to understand the hypothesis and results from far
away and make it accessible to a general audience.
