THE KAISER LAB @ CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY
  • Home
  • About Me
  • LAB MEMBERS
  • RESEARCH
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • TEACHING

early investigator award Plenary: north american ornithological conference

8/15/2020

 
I was excited to share a few research highlights during my Early Investigator Award Plenary talk at the North American Ornithological Conference. Honored to share the virtual  stage with friends, Jennifer Walsh and Nick Mason, with nearly 3000 attendees. Thank you to the NAOC organizers for the opportunity!
Picture

nominated as fellow of the american ornithological society

8/11/2020

 
Honored to be nominated in the 2020 class of Fellows of the American Ornithological Society with friends and colleagues.
Picture

presentations at the 57th annual hubbard brook cooperators' meeting

7/8/2020

 
The Hubbard Brook Field Ornithology Program 2020-21 cohort presented their first talks at a scientific meeting. The students received strong, positive feedback on each of their presentations, including high remarks from Dick Holmes, founder of the Hubbard Brook bird research. The field training program was well received by the Hubbard Brook research community. Talks will be posted to https://www.birds.cornell.edu/hubbardbrook/ before the Fall semester.

AWARDED THE AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S Ned K. Johnson Early Investigator Award!

5/6/2020

 
Picture

NEW Paper: Common field data limitations can substantially bias sexual selection metrics

4/23/2020

 
New paper published in The American Naturalist led by Becky Cramer with Mike Webster and Brandt Ryder showing how sexual selection metrics from field data results in substantial bias. We provide a tool to select metrics for your specific system. Such a fun collaboration with great scientists and friends! 🔗
​
https://www.amnat.org/an/newpapers/Aug-Cramer.html

new paper: Over-summering abundance, species composition, and habitat-use patterns at a globally important site for migratory shorebirds

3/1/2020

 
New paper published in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology on the conservation importance of the Kadalundi Vallikkunnu Community Reserve on the southwest coast of India for oversummering shorebirds — migrants that remain on their wintering grounds during the breeding season.

Over the 14 yr study, we documented 7 over-summering species, including Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus), Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultia), Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos), Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres), and Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva). Management plans that aim to restore vulnerable mudflats and mangroves and to reduce anthropogenic threats such as sand mining and waste dumping are needed to prevent the loss of important oversummering, foraging habitat for migratory shorebirds in southern India and along the Central Asian and South Asian Flyways. 🔗

NEW Paper: Strong sexual selection despite spatial constraints on extra-pair paternity

2/14/2020

 
New paper published in Behavioral Ecology. Copulations outside the pair bond often occur only within local neighborhoods, thus preventing a single male from monopolizing all extrapair paternity opportunities in a population. It has been proposed that such spatial constraints would limit sexual selection. Our simulations show that sexual selection, though reduced, can remain strong despite spatial constraints on extrapair paternity.

Exciting new simulation study with wonderful friends, Becky Cramer and Emma Greig. 🔗
Picture

NEW Paper: Within-group relatedness and patterns of cooperation and reproductive sharing in the tropical chestnut-crested yuhina

8/12/2019

 
Excited to share our new paper published in Animal Behaviour of a cooperatively breeding songbird endemic to Borneo with mixed-kin breeding groups. Both unrelated male and female helpers of the chestnut-crested yuhina gain direct benefits from helping within their breeding group.
​
Coauthors: Tom Martin, Juan Carlos Oteyza, Julie Castner Danner, Connor Armstad, and Robert Fleischer. 🔗
Picture

new grant for collaborative research in puerto rico!

2/1/2019

 
Picture
My Smithsonian grant was funded! I will be examining genetic and fitness consequences of declining populations of the grasshopper sparrow in Puerto Rico following habitat damage by recent hurricanes. I will be collaborating with the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico to establish the first demographic study of this species in the Caribbean.

FIRST RECORD OF GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS ON CURAçAO IN OVER A DECADE!

7/1/2018

 
Picture
Excited to share that during our latest field expedition to Curaçao we worked with local birders and biologists and documented the first grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) on the island in over a decade! We were surveying historical sites for our study of the geographic patterns in genetic and song variation of grasshopper sparrows across the Caribbean Islands.
Enjoy the slideshow!

NEW PAPER by cornell undergraduate collaborator!

6/8/2018

 
New paper published in The Auk, "Variation in nest characteristics and brooding patterns of female Black-throated Blue Warblers is associated with thermal cues". We tested the hypothesis that females adjust nest characteristics and brooding patterns in response to thermal variation during the nest-building and nestling stages. This work was conducted across a 2°C gradient at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire. Our findings suggest that thermal cues during nest building may be unreliable as predictors of future conditions for developing nestlings and also that females might favor their own self-maintenance and compromise nestling growth under adverse thermal conditions 🔗 

Maria Smith was my undergraduate advisee at Cornell University. Maria is now a graduate student at Princeton University working with Christie Riehl.
Picture

FIELD EXPEDITION: JAMAICA

6/6/2018

 
Picture
Successful field expedition to Jamaica for our study of the geographic patterns in genetic and song variation of grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) across the Caribbean Islands.
Enjoy the slideshow!

NEW PAPER: GENETIC BENEFITS OF SOCIAL FORAGING IN an old world tropical BABBLER

1/23/2018

 
 New paper published in Behavioral Ecology, "Direct fitness benefits and kinship of social foraging groups in an Old World tropical babbler".  We combined behavioral and molecular data to provide a first description of the social and genetic mating system of the grey-throated babbler (Stachyris nigriceps)--a resident of tropical submontane forests across Southeast Asia.  Our findings highlight the importance of examining benefits of sociality for unrelated individuals that largely do not help and broaden the direct fitness benefits of group foraging beyond assumed survival benefits. 🔗 

​This was an exciting collaboration with Tom Martin's lab as part of their larger study on the life histories of the bird community at Kinabalu Park, in the state of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. This work was co-authored by Tom Martin, Juan Oteyza, Connor Armstad, and Rob Fleischer.
Picture

new paper: sexual networks

12/13/2017

 
Picture
Schematic of how networks were constructed (a–c) and sample network subset (d). Social pairing and paternity data (a) and spatial relationships (b) were used to obtain final edge weights (c), shown here for a hypothetical focal male in medium grey.
New paper published in Journal of Evolutionary Biology, "Characterizing selection in black-throated blue warblers using a sexual network approach".  We evaluate the application of the sexual network approach to empirical data and suggest that phenotypic traits such as song characteristics and plumage may be more relevant than body size for male–male competition in the black-throated blue warbler.  🔗 

​This research was led by my good friend, Becky Cramer (Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, Cornell University).

field expedition: puerto rico

8/1/2017

 
Picture
Just returned from a successful field expedition to Puerto Rico for our study of the geographic patterns in genetic and song variation of grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) across the Caribbean Islands.

field expedition: dominican republic

7/2/2017

 
Picture
Just returned from a successful field expedition to the Dominican Republic for our study of the geographic patterns in genetic and song variation of grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum) across the Caribbean Islands.

NEW PAPER: HORMONE RESPONSES IN BIRDS

2/6/2017

 
Picture
New paper published in General and Comparative Endocrinology, "An experimental test of the effect of brood size on glucocorticoid responses, parental investment, and offspring phenotype". We demonstrate in barn swallows that while under moderately challenging environmental conditions brood size manipulations had context-dependent effects on female parental investment, and influenced nestling phenotype, maternal glucocorticoid levels were not modulated based on brood value but were individually consistent features of phenotype during breeding. 🔗

​This research was led by Maren Vitousek (Cornell University) and Rebecca Safran (University of Colorado-Boulder).

NEW PAPER: CONSTRAINTS ON MATING

2/2/2017

 
Picture
New paper published in The American Naturalist, "Ecological and social factors constrain spatial and temporal opportunities for mating in a migratory songbird". We demonstrate that environmental constraints on extrapair mating could have overlooked consequences for the evolution of sexual traits. 🔗
Lay summary on ASN's Forthcoming Papers

featured in "The living bird" book

12/23/2016

 
Picture
The Living Bird: 100 Years of Listening to Nature is a beautiful hardcover book that celebrates the joyful and complex relationship between birds and people. The large format volume weaves together photos by award-winning photographer Gerrit Vyn with essays by Barbara Kingsolver, Jared Diamond, Lyanda Lynn Haupt, Scott Weidensaul, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology director John Fitzpatrick. - Mountaineers Books

Read the profile on my path to becoming an ornithologist on pp. 168-169. I am honored to be included to showcase what it means to research birds.

For more on Gerrit's photography: ​http://gerritvynphoto.com

The book even has a trailer, which of course includes the beautiful song of the black-throated blue warbler.

new year, new project, new bird!

12/23/2016

 
Picture
New year, new project, new bird, new region of the world to explore... my Smithsonian Bond grant was funded! I will be examining genetic and song divergence between migratory and sedentary populations of the grasshopper sparrow in the Caribbean Islands.

What is the connection between James Bond the ornithologist and 007? - Author Ian Fleming was an avid bird watcher and regularly used the field guide, "Birds of the West Indies", written by ornithologist James Bond to identify Caribbean birds. Fleming thought James Bond would be a great name for a spy in his novel and the rest is history.

New paper: snps vs. msats for parentage

9/9/2016

 
Picture
Interested in using SNPs for parentage assignment? Check out our new manuscript in Molecular Ecology Resources, "A comparative assessment of SNP and microsatellite markers for assigning parentage in a socially monogamous bird." We demonstrate the efficacy of small SNP panels for paternity in wild populations. 🔗

presented on babbler mating system

8/16/2016

 
Picture
​Chaired the Molecular Ecology session and presented "Direct fitness benefits and kinship of social foraging groups in an Old World tropical babbler" at the VI North American Ornithological Conference, Washington, D.C.

co-led workshop: improving your presentation skills

8/16/2016

 
Picture
Here's a link to our NAOC pre-meeting workshop "Improving Your Presentation Skills" with Nick Mason, Scott Taylor, Matt Carling, and I. Hope you get at least one piece of sage advice. It was fun to put together.
​

Followed by "Twitter for Scientists"

co-hosted AOU early professionals symposium and social

8/16/2016

 
Picture
Co-hosted a successful Early Professionals Mini-Talk Symposium and Social at the VI North American Ornithological Conference with Mike Butler and Emma Greig for the third year. Thanks to all of the EP participants for highlighting the exciting research performed by early professionals and to all of the senior scientists for imparting their wisdom on the next generation of ornithologists. This event is earning its place on the schedule of the annual meeting.

Excited to be the new Chair of the Early Professionals Committee and work to retain this critical membership group by offering new incentives.

field expedition: organ pipe, AriZona

6/30/2016

 
Picture
Just returned from co-leading a Cornell Lab of Ornithology field expedition with Dr. Emma Greig to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ. We are studying the role of territory quality on the mating system of Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps). 

I really enjoyed working in the desert with these fantastic Cornell undergraduates: Max Lee Witynski, Liam Akerlof Berigan, Robert Alexander Breinholt Wiebe.
<<Previous

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    August 2019
    February 2019
    July 2018
    June 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    April 2012
    January 2012

©S.A. Kaiser 2012
  • Home
  • About Me
  • LAB MEMBERS
  • RESEARCH
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • TEACHING