People

Most WYOBIRD faculty, staff, and students are housed in the Department of Zoology and Physiology under the College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources. However, WYOBIRD is open to all students interested in studying birds and we collaborate with people, labs, and schools within and beyond the University of Wyoming. We offer internships for undergraduates where they gain UW credit hours while assisting with field projects in the Laramie area. See the Get Involved page for more information on how to participate in WYOBIRD.

Faculty and their students conduct research on a diversity of avian species and habitats within the state of Wyoming as well as in locations far beyond such as Panama and Hawaii. Projects examine questions on community structure, seed dispersal networks, hybrid zones, migratory movements, long-term demographic trends, impacts of energy development, animal communication, window collisions, avian parasites and more. Check out the faculty lab websites for more information on their work and how to join their labs.

WYOBIRD Team

name Amanda Norton
research Influence of grazing strategies on cattle behavior and downstream effects on songbird nesting success and diversity

name Anna Chalfoun
research Processes and factors that influence wildlife-habitat relationships in birds, mammals, and herpetofauna

name Austin Barth
research Contest assessment strategies and memory in chestnut-backed antbirds (Poliocrania exsul) in Panama

name Beth Wommack
research Museum management; staff curator at the University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates

name Bri Agenbroad
research Influence of competition on ant-following birds attending army ant swarms

name Collin Porter
research Migration and ecological physiology of Gray-crowned Rosy-finches

name Corey Tarwater
research Population and community-level response to large and fine-scale environmental change

name Don Jones
research Prevalence and fitness effects of ectoparasites in sagebrush songbirds

name Emily Shertzer
research Full life-cycle effects of human-induced habitat change on sagebrush obligate songbirds

name Erik Schoenborn
research Habitat selection based spatial trade-offs, site fidelity, and full annual cycle spatial use of Loggerhead Shrikes

name Erin Stewart
research Resource holding potential in territorial tropical birds

name Erin Strasser
research Integration of sustainable human development with the conservation of migratory birds across their full annual cycle

name Garrett Higgins
research Frugivore-plant interaction in novel ecosystems

name Jess Kowalski
research Neighbor-stranger discrimination in chestnut-backed antbirds (Poliocrania exsul) in Panama

name Jessie Williamson
research Impacts of elevation on the migration, physiology, and genomic divergence of birds.

name Josh Layfield
research Investigating factors modulating the use of risky habitats by golden eagles in Wyoming

name Katie Schabron
research Influence of campus architectire on bird-window collision dynamics (UW Bird-Window Collision Project)

name Kelly Roberts
research Competition, delayed dispersal, sociality,

name Kim Jordan
research Species traits, temporal variation in demography, synchrony

name Lindsey Gapinski
research Mechanisms underlying declines in forest-dwelling birds of the western United States at different spatial and temporal scales

name Liz Howard
research Space use of ant-following birds based on prey and dominance

name Marcus Anderson
research Correlates of risk-averse foraging in army-ant following birds

name Margie Hemp
research Effects of temperature and hypoxia on wing morphology, behavior, and physiology of Andean hummingbirds

name Mary De Aquino
research Niche partitioning, species roles, and the impacts of species loss in ant-following birds

name Matt Carling
research Adaptation and speciation in birds.

name Michael Castano
research Mechanisms of community structuring in tropical birds

name Olivia Beaudette
research Bottom-up influences on juvenile fitness in a suite of declining songbirds

name Patrick Kelley
research Animal behavior and ecological analysis

name Paul Dougherty
research Implications of adaptive variation in molting behavior for diversifcation in and conservation of North American passerines

name Reina Galvan
research Mechanisms of bird declines in Panama

name Sarah Palmieri
research Relationship between male plumage, song and genetic ancestry in the Passerina bunting hybrid zone.

name Zach Holmes
research Mechanisms of fruit-tracking by avian frugivores in a novel ecosystem
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