About

I am a graduate student in Steve Nowicki's lab interested in the evolution and diversification of animal mating systems. I study mating behavior in passerine birds, a taxon in which males and females of many species exhibit monogamous social behavior but frequently mate with individuals outside their pair bonds. Extra-pair copulation (EPC, a.k.a. cheating) not only is commonly observed in socially monogamous species but also varies in frequency within and across species. My research asks: Why do so many "monogamous" species engage in EPC, and why does the rate of EPC vary? And, do behavioral differences in populations or species translate to changes on the molecular level?

I am designing a series of field- and lab-based projects using the Agelaius blackbird clade to explore the relationship between mating system, EPC rate and reproductive protein evolution. My first study compares different populations of red-winged blackbirds to test the relationship between population genetic diversity and EPC rate. My second study compares all five Agelaius species to test the hypothesis that male seminal fluid proteins are under stronger selection in species with high levels of EPC than in species with low levels of EPC. I hope to clarify the function of this widespread mating behavior and combine behavioral and molecular approaches to understand the role of sexual selection in DNA sequence evolution. (You can see a poster summarizing my proposed work here.)

My research experience prior to 2009 was guided by my interests in the production, perception and divergence of mating signals. I completed my senior thesis at the University of Maryland on song variation and discrimination in two subspecies of swamp sparrow, and I worked again with swamp sparrows in 2008 to investigate how males adjust their responses to different territorial challenges.

back