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~~Elphick Lab-UCONN Ornithology Group~~

 

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Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut

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Welcome! I'm a graduate student in the Chris Elphick Lab at the University of Connecticut, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.

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That's me on the left. A juvenile Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow on the right.

I study the influence of marsh size and natural and anthropomorphic habitat features on the movement and survival of Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows (Ammodramus caudacutus) in Connecticut . Using radio telemetry, I investigate the survival and shared patterns of vegetation and landscape use by A. caudacutus females and their offspring. How similar are the movements of fledgling sparrows to their mother’s? Does this relationsihp change depending on the size of the natal marsh or other factors?

I'm also working with my advisor and the USGS and Canadian Bird Banding Labs to identify and characterize the problems researchers have experienced with radio-tagging passerines.

Research Interests: I'm interested in how disturbance, introduced species, patch-connectivity, and human settlement patterns influence the movement of animals across the landscape, and how these movements contribute to fitness. You could say that I am broadly interested in all of those factors, or (more accurately) that I’m interested in the interaction of all of them: especially in habitat-limited species.

Take a look at my links on the side of this page for some more information about me and thanks for visiting! Curious about my research? Feel free to contact me at jason.hill(at)uconn.edu.