Researcher

Andrea Grunst

Research Expertise:My research is centered on avian behavioral ecology, conservation ecology and urban ecology. I particularly focus on how exposure to anthropogenic disturbance factors, including chemical pollution and direct human disturbance, affect the behavioral traits, life histories and fitness of birds. I am especially interested in how anthropogenic disturbance affects rates of senescence and the expression of sexual signals. Moreover, I am also interested in how urban environments affect avian personalities, as defined by consistent among individual differences in behavior.

Keywords:SEXUAL SIGNALING, ECOTOXICOLOGY, URBAN ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY, AVIAN PERSONALITIES, Biology

Disciplines:Vertebrate biology, Behavioural ecology, Ecophysiology and ecomorphology, Ecotoxicology, Conservation and biodiversity

Research techniques:I have technical expertise in avian field research methods, including banding, mist netting and collecting behavioral observation on birds. Moreover, I also have extensive experience with laboratory methods used in ecophysiological studies, especially including performing qPCR to measure telomere length and using spectrophotometry to measure plumage coloration. I also have experience measuring chemical contaminants and conducting complex statistical analyses in R.

Users of research expertise:My research is of interest to behavioral ecologists interested in basic evolutionary and behavioral processes, and to conservation ecologists and urban planners.