How do animal societies evolve, persist, and develop group-level traits? Using genetic, behavioral, and spatial data, I am undertaking a study of Southern Ground-Hornbills (Bucorvus leadbeateri) at their global population center in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. I developed this system as a Master’s student with Dr. Matthew Hutchinson at University of California, Merced. I am continuing this work as a doctoral student with Dr. Chris Elphick at the University of Connecticut.

I am furthering this research as a DAAD Research Fellow at the Universität Konstanz and Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior with Dr. Brendan Barrett.

When birds leave their family groups, where do they go and how do they fare there? Using spatial tagging approaches, I am exploring helper dispersal dynamics in Florida Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) at Archbold Biological Station in Lake Placid, Florida. This project is in close collaboration with Dr. Sahas Barve who currently leads the decades-long study of this species at Archbold.

Are cities always bad for birds? Using museum specimens, citizen science data, and mathematical modeling, I am wrapping up assessing the historical ecology of birds in the Los Angeles Basin, seeking to understand how breeding birds have been affected by the intense urbanization of the region. This work has taken place in the lab of Dr. Eric Wood at Cal State Los Angeles, and is part of the Mapping Los Angeles Landscape History grant with collaborators at USC, UCLA, and other partner institutions.

How do birds withstand extreme cold in some parts of their range, while their conspecifics live in relatively moderate environments? Using morphological data from feather structure and color, I seek to understand how Canada Jays (Perisoreus canadensis) are adapted to environments ranging from sea level to 14,000 feet. This work occurs through a Casanova Research Fellowship in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley. There I collaborate with Dr. Carla Cicero and Dr. Rauri Bowie. This photo is from Alex d’Entremont/Macauley Library.

Does interpersonaI experience change our interactions with nature? I lead customized birding tours for clients in the U.S. and abroad via www.birdwalkswithsean.com. I enjoy introducing people to the birds that they can encounter around their homes and cities. We live in biodiverse landscapes worthy of wonder!

At Cal State Los Angeles, I served as Collections Manager of the Bird Collections in the Department of Biological Sciences. We sought to organize, digitize, and update this historical collection of nests and eggs. The work was also documented on Instagram!

During my Master’s, I worked part-time at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology at Occidental College, where I rehoused and digitized the egg collection, mentored undergraduates in museum database management, renewed permits, fulfilled loan requests, and prepared specimens. Check out my staff page.