Other projects

I am contributing to a number of other projects at the moment:

• I’ve been working with Jen Walsh at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to determine the phylogeographic history of Ammospiza sparrows in the US. In particular, we were interested in how the diversification of the genus was linked to the availability of tidal marsh habitat in the recent past. This was a follow-up to a previous project where we looked at the adaptive differences between Nelson’s and saltmarsh sparrows, both of which inhabit salt-marshes along the east coast of the US.

• I’m working with Becky Lakin and Karen Spencer from St Andrews University and Liz Humphries from the British Trust for Ornithology to determine how the diets of gulls in the UK influences their exposure to environmental contaminants.

• I’m collaborating with Vicki Friesen and many members of her lab to compare the demographic history of Arctic and Antarctic seabirds.

• Finally, I’m working with Yvan Satge to study the diets of endangered black-capped petrels.