LAB MEMBERS

My field-based research program offers undergraduates opportunities for independent research and field training in avian biology in New Hampshire and the Caribbean Islands
Sara Kaiser, PI
As a Research Ecologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, I direct a year-long research and training program that I developed to provide undergraduates an entry point into field ornithology at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I also teach the Field Methods in Avian Ecology course each Fall. My research program offers additional, training opportunities in the Caribbean Islands and locally in central New York at a migration banding station that I will establish (COMING SOON!). I encourage my students to develop original research leading to senior theses and peer-reviewed scientific publications to further their development as scholars.
My highly motivated students have developed original research on a variety of topics, including offspring sex allocation, perceived predation risk "fear effects", research disturbance, artificial light at night, climate change, animal personality, sexual signals, vocal communication, female plumage variation, mate choice, extra-pair mating, parental behavior, nest predation, habitat selection, nest construction, malaria prevalence, molecular diet analysis, and population genetic structure. Student projects have been based in the field, lab, and/or data-driven by leveraging data (behavioral, genetic, environmental) collected as part of ongoing, long-term research projects.
Current Students

cornell university

Eryn Woernley
Dryden High School, TST BOCES New Visions Program in Life Sciences
Cornell University Class of 2024, Animal Science

Senior project: Conservation genetics of Grasshopper Sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) 

Skewed adult sex ratios can exacerbate population declines by limiting the ability of individuals to find mates and reproduce in monogamous species. My research examines the association between the sex ratio of nestlings and adults in a small, declining population of Grasshopper Sparrows at the Chester River Field Research Station in Maryland. I am using genetic techniques to determine the sex from nestling blood samples collected from 2005-2009 and examining demographic and environmental factors affecting changes in adult sex ratios from 1999-2014.
Lezhi (Stella) Hao
Cornell University Class of 2023, Biological Sciences - Genetics, Genomics and Development 
​
Hubbard Brook Field Ornithology Program:
Female plumage traits as signals of mate quality, competitive ability, and stress resilience in the black-throated blue warbler
  • Awarded a Student Science Research Grant from the Rochester Academy of Sciences

Follow on Twitter: @HaoStella10
​​John Deitsch
Cornell University Class of 2022, Entomology, Biological Sciences - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

​Hubbard Brook Field Ornithology Program:
Effects of artificial light at night on caterpillar predation and parasitism pressures​
  • Awarded a Student Science Research Grant from the Rochester Academy of Sciences
  • Awarded a Libbie H. Hyman Memorial Scholarship from the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biologists to support his first field station experience at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest to conduct research on invertebrates

Follow John's work: https://jfdeitsch.wixsite.com/entomornithologist ​
Follow on Twitter: @DeitschJohn
Lindsey Forg
Cornell University Class of 2022, Environment & Sustainability

​Hubbard Brook Field Ornithology Program:
Effects of a lengthening green season on the diet of insectivorous forest songbirds

Follow Lindsey's work: http://www.lindseyforgphotography.com/
Follow on Twitter: @ForgLindsey
​Follow on Instagram: @lindsey.forg
Raisa Kochmaruk
Cornell University Class of 2021, Environment & Sustainability

​Hubbard Brook Artist in Residence Program:
Scientific illustration series of female plumage variation and nestling development in the black-throated blue warbler

Follow Raisa's work: https://mondielle.com/
Follow on Twitter: @RKochmaruk
Follow on Instagram: @raisa_kochmaruk
Sophie Rabinowicz
Cornell University Class of 2021, Animal Science, Environment & Sustainability

​Hubbard Brook Field Ornithology Program: 
Impacts of research disturbance on avian nest defense behaviors and nest survival across a landscape of risk
Jasmine (Jazzy), Lab Pooch
I am an avid birder, runner, and swimmer. I get along with every dog, cat, and person (big or small) that I meet. I am anxious to explore the White Mountain National Forest and entertain the Hubbard Brook research community and swim in Mirror Lake once this pandemic is behind us.
Lab Alumni

cornell university

Maria Smith
Cornell University Class of 2016, Biological Sciences - Neurobiology and Behavior

REU topic: Functional variation in nest morphology and brooding behavior along a climate gradient
  • Received the prestigious Merrill Presidential Scholar Award from Cornell
  • Awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for Fall 2017
  • Maria's first-authored paper "Variation in nest characteristics and brooding patterns by female Black-throated Blue Warblers is associated with thermal cues" was published in The Auk: Ornithological Advances!
​
​Graduate school: Ph.D. Candidate, Princeton University (Dr. Christina Riehl's lab)
Dominique Hellmich
Cornell University Class of 2015, Biological Sciences - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Honors Thesis and REU topic:  Role of top-down selection pressure by predators on lay-date adjustment in response to spring temperature
  • Received the Tanner Dean Scholars Research Grant 
  • Received the Charles Tracy Fund for student research

​Graduate school: Ph.D. Candidate, New Mexico State University (Dr. Timothy Wright's lab)
Follow on Twitter: @DominiqueHellm6
Sarah Rubenstein
Cornell University Class of 2015, Science of Natural Environmental Systems

Honors Thesis and REU topic: Linking personality traits to parental behaviors and reproductive success

Graduate school: M.S. Wildlife Ecology, University of Maine (Dr. Joseph Zydlewski's lab); Ph.D. student, University of Maine 
Follow on Twitter: @srubenstein
Juliet Jacobson
Cornell University Class of 2016, Biological Sciences - General Biology

Lab-based training: Genotyping and paternity analyses

Professional School: Medical student, New York Medical College
Follow on Twitter: @jacojuls
Kathryn Grabenstein
Cornell University Class of 2014, Biological Sciences - Neurobiology and Behavior

Honors Thesis and REU topic: Resource-dependent offspring sex allocation
  • Awarded the Cynthia Kagarise Sherman Undergraduate Research Award for an Outstanding Honors Thesis in Behavior
  • Runner-up in the Undergraduate Poster Competition at the 51st Annual Conference of the Animal Behavior Society, Princeton, NJ August 2014, "No experimental support for resource-dependent sex allocation in a migratory songbird".
  • Click here to learn more about her research in another system, the red-backed fairy wren
  • Awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for Fall 2017

​Graduate school: Ph.D. Candidate, University of Colorado Boulder (Dr. Scott Taylor's lab)
​Follow Kathryn's work: https://www.kathryngrabenstein.com/
​Laura Stirling
Cornell University Class of 2011, Biological Sciences - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

REU topic: Implications of trill rate and bandwidth trade-offs in mate choice and male reproductive success

 smithsonian conservation biology institute

​Ellie Ezekiel​
Franklin & Marshall College Class of 2017, Biology

REU topic: Prevalence of avian malaria in Old World tropical songbirds
​Conor Harbeck
Franklin & Marshall College Class of 2017, Biology

REU topic: Offspring sex ratio bias in Old World tropical songbirds

hubbard brook research experience

Alisa Muniz
Humboldt State University Class of 2015, Wildlife Biology

REU project: Spatial and temporal variation in songbird nest predation
  • Ranked top 20 in the undergraduate poster competition at the 20th Annual Conference of The Wildlife Society in Milwaukee, WI
Andre Moncrieff
Andrews University Class of 2014, Music, Biology

Independent project: Song characteristics that predict extra-mating success
  • Awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for Fall 2015

Graduate school: Ph.D. Candidate, Louisiana State University (Dr. Robb Brumfield's lab)
​Follow on Twitter: @Andre_Moncrieff
​Ryan Steiner
Frostburg State College Class of 2012

REU topic: Effect of food supplementation on avian incubation behavior and hatchling mass

Graduate school: M.S., University of Minnesota-Duluth (Dr. Gerald Niemi's lab)
Jessica Sutt
Warren Wilson College Class of 2011, Conservation Biology, Environmental Education

Honors Thesis and REU topic: Influence of food availability and female constraints on sex differences in parental care
  • Undergraduate thesis awarded 1st place at the North Carolina Academy of Science
  • Awarded Bonner Scholarship for summer fieldwork

Graduate school: M.S., Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida '14
Professional position: ‎Refuge Operations Specialist at Florida Panther & Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuges, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Naples, FL
Lindsey Nietmann
Carlton College Class of 2009, Biology - Environmental Studies

Independent project: Vocal consistency and extra-pair mating success
  • Awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Graduate school: Ph.D., University of Washington (Dr. Renee Ha's lab)
Professional position: Wildlife Biologist, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Hawaii Department of Lands and Natural Resources
Alexa Trimble (Branesky)
Washington State University Class of 2009, Biological Sciences

Senior project: Effects of weather and climate on mating patterns in a migratory bird
  • Received Washington State University's Center for Environmental Research, Education, and Outreach Award (poster competition)

Current position: Trust and Safety Specialist, Rover.com (Pet Care)
Formerly Zoo Keeper at Roosevelt Park Zoo, Woodland Park Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, and Intern at Northwest Trek and Keauhou Bird Conservation Center