Principal Investigator: Dr. Corey Tarwater
Avian Ecology & Behavior Lab
Dr. Corey E. Tarwater (Principal Investigator)
Robert B. Berry Distinguished Chair in Ecology, Associate Professor, Univ. Wyoming
Dr. Tarwater has been working in tropical forests for over 20 years now. Her research combines in-depth knowledge of animal behavior combined with creative and advanced statistical modeling to understand how populations and communities respond to large and fine-scale environmental change. Dr. Tarwater holds a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and a M.S. from the same university in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. She earned her B.S. in Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology from U.C. Davis. She is a native of Encinitas, CA and has two kids that she enjoys outdoor activities with and that come with her on her field adventures.
Mary De Aquino (Ph.D. student)
Mary is interested in the behavioral interactions and niche breadth of birds that follow army ant swarms. Mary is also interested in science communication and enjoys sharing her love of science and the natural world with others. She received her B.S. from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and since then she’s been fortunate to work in diverse and beautiful landscapes from the plains of Montana to the cloud forests of Ecuador. In addition to most things bird-related, Mary enjoys backpacking, sports, art, and befriending dogs.
Kim Jordan (M.S. student)
Kim’s current research interests lie in quantitative population ecology and the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity and ecosystem function. She hopes to address important questions related to the conservation of tropical birds, while exploring topics related to demography, physiological variation, and species interactions. For Kim’s M.S. research, she will be analyzing data collected on individually-marked birds in central Panama since the 1970’s.
Reina Galvan (M.S. student)
Reina's love for birds and passion for bird conservation has led her to work with many different species, from raptors to songbirds, in the boreal forest of Alaska to mangrove forests in Jamaica. For her research, Reina hopes to fill in some knowledge gaps on the potential mechanisms that could be causing the bird declines in resident birds in Panama. She hopes to pair the long-term monitoring data with lidar data to start looking at habitat selection and space use. Reina enjoys traveling, being outside in any capacity, and spending time with her family.
Kelly Roberts (M.S. student)
Kelly is interested in social behavior, recruitment, and demography in light of human-induced-rapid-environmental change. She is hoping to ask questions in regards to sociality and demography of tropical bird species in Panama. Since she completed undergrad, Kelly has enjoyed working on long-term avian ecology projects from North of the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the Florida scrub. When not in the field, Kelly enjoys reading, dog-sitting, and hikes with friends.
Elizabeth Howard (undergraduate student)
Liz is a WRSP (Wyoming Research Scholars Program) student and joined the lab in her 2nd year at the University of Wyoming. Liz is studying how prey availability impacts avian space use at army ant swarms and how avian dominance impacts space use. Liz will get to go to Panama for about 5 months across a few years to address this question.
Briana Agenbroad (undergraduate student)
Bri enjoyed a career in the outdoor industry where she was able to share her love of wildlife and science with people from all walks of life. She was inspired by the research she was reading to inform her tours and decided to pursue a degree in order to participate in scientific research myself. She is interested in the impact of human activities on community structure & function. Bri will be studying red-capped manakins as part of her research project.
Juan Felipe Castor Ospina (Crew leader, Panama)
Juan Felipe is a field biologist from Cali, Colombia with a special love for birds and the mountains. His research interests are in the molts of tropical birds, bird banding, and how to integrate these tools with management to help conserve birds.