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The Westneat Lab

 

 

 

 

Research

Some info about me

Current Lab Members

Jacqueline Dillard, Ph.D. Student. Research: Parental care and cooperation in Passalid beetles.

David Moldoff, Ph. D. Student. Research: Cognition and parental care in house sparrows.

Ben Cloud, Ph. D. Student. Research: Behavior and hybridization in birds

Katherine Sasser, M. S. Student. Research: Indirect effects of density dependent nest competition in house sparrows.

Come and Gone but not Forgotten!

Post-docs

Ian Stewart, Post-doc and Research Associate. As of March 1, 2011, a post-doc at the University of Delaware. Contact: itsacharliebrownchristmas [at]hotmail.com

Joseph Poston, Post-doc. Currently Associate Professor of Biology at Catawba College, NC

Sarah Sloane, Post-doc. Currently Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Maine-Farmington.

Graduate Students

Daniel Wetzel, Ph. D. (2013). Thesis: The causes and consequences of individual variation in parental care behavior.

Current Position: Visiting Assistant Professor, Georgia Southern University.

 

Sanh Kin Diep, Ph. D. (2012).

Thesis: Role of social interactions on the development and honesty of a signal of status.

Bridget Sousa, Ph. D. (2012).

Thesis: Ecology of mating patterns and sexual selection in dickcissels breeding in managed prairie.

Current Position: Ecologist, H. T. Harvey and Associates.

Amanda Ensminger, Ph.D. (2011).

Thesis: Personality and plasticity of house sparrow foraging behavior.

Current Position: NSF Post-doc with Esteban Fernandez-Juricic at Purdue University

Scott Lynn, Ph.D. (2006)

Thesis: Cloning and expression of key endocrine genes in a study on estrogen stimulated sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in yellow perch (Perca flavescens).

Current Position: Wildlife toxicologist for the US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention

Margret Hatch, Ph.D. (2003).

Thesis: Parental care as a life history trait in house sparrows, Passer domesticus.

Current Position: Associate Professor at Penn State University-Worthington/Scranton.

Herman Mays, Ph.D. (2000)

Thesis: Sexual conflict and constraints on female mating tactics in a monogamous passerine, the yellow-breasted chat.

Current Position: Curator of Zoology, Cincinnati Natural History Museum.

 

Katherine “Utah” Newman, M.S. (2011). Currently a tutor in Seattle, Wa.

Emily Morrison, M.S. (2003)

Thesis: Plumage signals and male-male competition for nest sites in house sparrows. Recently defended her Ph. D. at Michigan State University. Contact: ebmorris at msu.edu

 

Tria Kinnard, M.S. (2002)

Thesis: Analyses of Phenotypic Variation through the Life History of House Sparrows. Currently a physician’s assistant.

 

Wendy Hein, M.S. (2001)

Thesis: Dominance relationships and patterns of aggression in flocks of house sparrows, Passer domesticus.

Current Position: 4H educational specialist faculty member at Oregon State University. Contact: wendy.hein at orst.edu.

Gina Hupton, M.S. (2000)

Thesis: Bacteria in the guts and ejaculates of Red-winged Blackbirds: Implications for multiple mating.

 

Richard Hanschu, M.S. (1999)

Thesis: Microsatellite based genetic studies of paternity in House Sparrows. Currently working in computer systems in New Zealand.

Tamara Roush, Principal Lab Technician (1996-1999). Received Ph.D. in Entomology at the University of California-Davis.

Patricia Hartman, Ph.D. student. Project on hybridization between Golden- and Blue-winged Warblers. Currently seeking MLS degree.

Damon Orsetti, Ph.D. student. Project on multiple mating in Colorado Potato Beetles.

Doug Schaefer, Ph.D. student. Cooperative breeding in the monomorphic and ornamented Magpie Shrike.

Sarah Martin Stewart, Ph. D. Student. Research: Male advertisements in Indigo Buntings.

 

 

Courses

 

Lab Personnel

Prospective Students

Useful links

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