Come to biology by way of an undergraduate in mathematical physics, I believe that ecology is now where physics was two centuries ago. I'm interested in applying quantitative tools to ecological questions, particularly those associated with where the individual meets ecology. I began as an Assistant Professor in Natural Resource Sciences at McGill in January 2015. Photo by Kerry Woo.
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PrincipAL investigator
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POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
EMILY CHOY |
![]() Emily (https://sites.google.com/site/emilyschoy/home) completed her PhD at the University of Manitoba (supervised by Lisa Loseto (DFO) and Jim Roth) on the interconnectedness of diet, physical condition, and physiology of beluga whales as sentinel species of environmental change in the Beaufort Sea ecosystem. She completed her MSc (supervised by Jules Blais) at the University of Ottawa on biovector transport of marine contaminants to High Arctic food webs on Devon Island, Nunavut. Emily was a Weston Scientist on the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition (Editor's note: We like to imagine that Emily discovered the Erebus herself as she was diving underwater after a pod of belugas and followed them back to Franklin's graveyard, but I'm told she's sworn to secrecy over the voyage). She is supported via W. Garfield Weston and FRQNT postdoctoral fellowships and her research (co-supervised by Dr. Grant Gilchrist) will examine relationships between physiological strategies and foraging movements in thick-billed murres to provide an energetics framework for understanding the movement patterns of marine predators in relation to shipping routes in Hudson Bay.
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Past students |
![]() 2015. Juliana Balluffi-Fry (Undergrad project) completed an undergraduate research project on the diversity of birds at Kenauk Nature Reserve, along the Ottawa River north of Montreal. Following a field semester in Panama. She completed an Honours thesis looking at mammal diversity at Kenauk and is now working on a MSc at MUN with Eric Vander Wal studying plant-lynx-hare stochiometry (Does this involve placing varying ratios of each in beakers? We'd love to know.).
2016. Catherine Jarjour (Honours project, Environmental Biology) cured her Irritable Owl Syndrome by completing an Honours thesis on temporal trends in bird abundance at the McGill Bird Observatory. She completed a MSc thesis at UOttawa with Jule Marond-Ferron, and is now working for the bird-banding lab in Ottawa. 2016. Emma Nip (Undergrad project) completed an undergraduate research project on mass variation in black-capped chickadees at the McGill Bird Observatory. She completed a MSc in Animal BioSciences at Guelph studying animal welfare with Georgia Mason, and works now at the Guelph Humane Society. 2016. Catherine Villeneuve (Honours thesis, Environmental Biology) Catherine used her ninja karate skills to attack a mound of data collected on thick-billed murres at Coats Island. She examined different ways of automatically converting accelerometer data into ethograms based on validated (videotaped) data. She completed a MSc at SFU studying tree swallows with Dave Green and Ron Ydenberg, and is now working as an Environmental Technician for Organisme de bassin versant du Saguenay. 2017. Amanda Smith-Stasinopolous (Undergrad project) After completing an internship volunteering with a sea turtle conservation organisation in Greece this past summer, Amanda realised that she needed more a hands-on experience with field work data analysis. She evaluated the massive data set on at-sea behaviours of black-legged kittiwakes from the Middleton, Alaska field site to examine the fascinating relationship between environmental change and animal behaviour. Amanda is now working for Charles River Labs. ![]() 2017. Casey Leung (Honours thesis, Life Sciences) Casey is an aspiring vet whose thesis was co-supervised by Barbara Frei (Director, McGill Bird Observatory). She tested the utility of point-of-care devices to measure the health of wild songbirds, especially wintering/late migrating juncos, American Tree Sparrows, goldfinches, chickadees, House Finches and robins.
![]() 2017. Erin Brown (Honours thesis, Environmental Biology) Erin completed an undergraduate degree in environmental biology with a specialization in wildlife. After having spent the last two summers tree planting, she was happy to be out of the woods and learning about a new environment, including traveling to Alaska for field work. For her honours thesis she used multiple data sets provided by Dr. George Divoky of Cooper's Island, Alaska. She studied the energetics of prey switching by black guillemots, hoping to quantify the depth and time at which this event occurs. Erin completed a Master's in Environmental Impact Assessment at Concordia and is now working for Health Canada.
![]() 2017. Megan Phillips (Honours thesis, Environmental Biology) Megan completed her undergraduate degree in environmental biology, specializing in wildlife biology at McGill. Her honours thesis was co-supervised by Barbara Frei of the McGill Bird Observatory and aimed to optimize the placement of the MOTUS tower to detect bird migration of passerine species. This experience helped her spread her wings so that she can migrate to her next destination, which is currently working at the Ecomuseum. Megan is now doing a Master's in Science Communication.
![]() 2018. Katelyn Depot (Undergraduate research project, Environmental Biology) Katelyn completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology (Wildlife Biology Specialization) at McGill. She spent part of the summer of 2017 working with seabirds in Maine as a research assistant for the National Audubon Society's Project Puffin. For her senior research project, she used data collected by Project Puffin to look for relationships between puffin diet composition and changing fish communities in the Gulf of Maine.
![]() 2018. Eric Ste Marie (Honours thesis, Environmental Biology). Eric was an undergraduate student in Environmental Biology (Wildlife specialization). After having spent July 2017 doing fieldwork in East Greenland, he completed doing his Honour's thesis in our lab on the topic of seabird energetics. His project involved combining accelerometer data and estimates of daily energy expenditure to determine the costs of diving and flying in dovekies. He is now doing a MSc with Nigel Hussey (University of Windsor) studying Greenland sharks.
![]() 2016-18. Emile Brisson-Curadeau MSc. Emile completed a MSc on coloniality in murres, publishing this and this and this. Why? Here is what he had to say: When you have ornithology as a passion, what better place to enjoy it than in the ever-impressive Arctic environment? That is the reason why I chose to do my MSc on Thick-billed Murres... and because... you know, who doesn't want to see polar bears? Coats Island was his study area for two years, where he used cutting-edge technologies to record all the facets of those fascinating diving birds. Emile is now doing his PhD on king penguins having received a Vanier scholarship and a BOU John & Pat Warham Studentship on Penguins and Procellariformes.
![]() 2015-18. Natalie Thimot MSc. Natalie joined us from Nova Scotia, after doing her undergrad at Universite Sainte-Anne and Dalhousie. She was co-supervised by Rodger Titman (McGill) and Shawn Craik (Universite Sainte-Anne), and examined correlates of conspecific brood parasitism in red-breasted mergansers in New Brunswick. You can read about her MSc work here.
![]() 2016-18. Esteban Góngora MSc. Esteban joinued us from Bogotá, Colombia after completing his undergrad at Universidad de los Andes with a double major in biology and microbiology. Co-supervised by Lyle Whyte (McGill), he worked on various aspects of the relationships occurring between birds and their microbiome with a special focus to bird’s diet preferences and differential levels of mercury present on bird tissues. He is now doing a PhD with Dr. Whyte on bacterial degradation of oil in the Arctic. You can read about his MSc work here.
![]() 2017-19. Ana Morales MSc. Ana completed her undergrad at McGill with a Major in Environmental Biology. She spent the next two years doing field work in Ecuador, studying endemic land birds in Galapagos and hummingbird physiology in the Andean highlands. Her MSc thesis was co-supervised by Barbara Frei from the McGill Bird Observatory and she studied the migration and stopover ecology of moult migrant Swainson’s thrushes in Montreal using the Motus Wildlife Tracking System.
![]() 2018. Mathilde Guglielmi Honours student, MSE. Mathilde first discovered birdwatching as a young child in France, when she was bored one summer and decided to borrow her grandpa's binoculars and explore her backyard. Several years later she rediscovered this passion when interning at the McGill Bird Observatory. Mathilde studies in the McGill School of Environment with a specialization in biodiversity and conservation and a minor in geography. She completed an Honours thesis at the McGill Bird Observatory building on Megan's work, and working closely with Ana, examining the factors influencing the detectability of transmitters within the automated radio network. Mathilde is now doing a Master's in Integrated Water Resource Management at McGill.
![]() 2018. Thierry Grandmont. Passionate about birds since June 2013, I am particularly interested in how birds interact with their environment when feeding and how this affects reproduction and survival. Working with a community-based conservation NGO called QLF in Newfoundland and Labrador last summer, I fell in love with seabirds. In the fall 2018, I did an independent research project as a part of my biology major looking at Thick-billed Murre’s association with sea ice in the Canadian Arctic using telemetry data. I will be doing my MSc with Pierre Legagneux at Université Laval working with Bylot Island’s Snow Geese to examine the effect of climate change on reproductive success. Thierry is now doing a MSc with Pierre Legagneux at Laval.
![]() 2019. Emma Sutherland Honours student, MSE (Sept.-Apr. 2018-19). Emma was thrown headfirst into the world of ornithology during the summer of 2018, when she headed to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut to work with Polar Knowledge Canada. She is currently completing her undergraduate degree in Environment with a specialization in Biodiversity and Conservation and a minor in GIS and Remote Sensing. Her honours thesis (co-supervised by Jean-François Lamarre of Polar Knowledge Canada) explores the migratory behavior of American Golden-Plovers in relation to weather patterns. Emma is now working at Polar Knowledge Canada.
![]() 2019. Alice Sun Honours student, Environmental Biology. At a young age, Alice discovered the world of birds through the lens of a camera. Since then, she has dedicated all her time to pursuing a career in ornithology and conservation. Alice is currently completing her undergraduate degree in environmental biology at McGill. She spent the summer of 2018 on Middleton Island, living in the salmonberries so she could study rhinoceros auklets for her honours thesis. Her project focuses on differences in foraging behaviour between breeding stages and the effects of researcher disturbance on reproductive success. Alice is now working at Impact Media Lab doing science communication.
![]() 2019. Philippe Grenier Honours student, MSE. An Environment student specialized in water ecosystems, Philippe is passionate for everything related to aquatic ecosystems! For his Honours thesis, Philippe examined the exposure to mercury and other contaminants of ospreys in the Canadian Northwest. His thesis was published in the Science of the Total Environment. Philippe is now doing environmental law at McGill.
![]() 2019. Andrea Brown, Honours student, Environmental Biology. Andrea has always had a great love for the outdoors and especially for observing and studying wildlife. For her Honours thesis, co-supervised by Rebecca McCabe, Andrea studied the spring migratory behaviour of Snowy Owls using GPS data provided by Project SNOWstorm. She is now doing a MSc with Laura Pollock in Biology, on how Canadian bird species' distributions will change in response to a changing climate.
![]() 2019. Catherine Destrempes Undergraduate student, Environmental Biology. Catherine has a passion for nature and outdoor activity. She is really interested in ecosystem connection which she had the chance to study in the Arctic during the summer of 2018 on Igloolik Island. Her research project focussed on the identification of the information available on allochthonous input of marine resources in the Arctic terrestrial ecosystems, under the supervision of Kyle Elliott and Marie-Andrée Giroux from Moncton University. She is now doing a MSc with Elena Bennett in NRS on ecosystem services in the Monteregie.
![]() 2020. Gabrielle Ednie Honours student, Environmental Biology. For as long as she could remember, Gabrielle has wanted to work with the environment. She completed her degree in Environmental Biology (Applied Ecology). She recently stumbled into the world of bat research and has been studying the taxa for the past two summers. Since then, her passion for them has grown. She spent a summer collecting data for her Honours thesis on the possibility of using drones to study the elusive creatures. She is now doing a MSc with Jeremy Kerr at the University of Ottawa.
2020. Fred Tremblay Honours student, Environmental Biology. Fred is now doing a MSc in the lab (see above). |
COLLABORATORS
I CONSIDER ANYONE I'VE CO-AUTHORED A MANUSCRIPT WITH A COLLABORATOR, BUT THESE ARE A FEW PEOPLE THAT I HAVE WORKED CLOSELY WITH IN THE PAST 2-3 YEARS:
DAVID BIRD, MCGILL UNIVERSITY, APPLICATIONS OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES TO WILDLIFE BIOLOGY (CO-PI ON A MURRE FUND AND MOLSON FUND GRANT)
BIRGIT BRAUNE, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC SEABIRDS (CO-APPLICANT ON TWO NCP GRANTS)
SHAWN CRAIK, UNIVERSITY OF SAINTE-ANNE (CO-SUPERVISOR OF NATALIE THIMOT)
GEORGE DIVOKY, FRIENDS OF COOPER ISLAND, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF ERIN BROWN)
JOHN ELLIOTT, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, CONTAMINANTS IN PACIFIC SEABIRDS
KIM FERNIE, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC SEABIRDS (CO-PI ON TWO NCP GRANTS)
JEROME FORT, CENTRE NATIONAL DES RECHERCHES SCIENTIFIQUES, CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC SEABIRDS (ARCTOX)
MARIE-JOSEE FORTIN, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, ADAPTATION OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS TO AN ICE-FREE SUMMER (CO-PI ON NSERC STRATEGIC GRANT)
KEVIN FRASER, UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF PURPLE MARTINS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF KRISTEN LALLA)
BARBARA FREI, MCGILL BIRD OBSERVATORY, MOVEMENT OF SONGBIRDS ALONG AN URBAN GRADIENT (CO-SUPERVISOR OF ANA MORALES, MATHILDE GUGLIELMI, CATHERINE JARJOUR, CASEY LEUNG, EMMA NIP AND MEGAN PHILLIPS)
VICKI FRIESEN, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, ADAPTATION OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS TO AN ICE-FREE SUMMER (PI ON NSERC STRATEGIC GRANT)
TONY GASTON, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS
GRANT GILCHRIST, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (PI ON SEVERAL GRANTS, CO-SUPERVISOR OF DR. EMILY CHOY, THOMAS LAZARUS AND ALLISON PATTERSON)
JONATHAN GREEN, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL, HEART RATE LOGGING OF SEABIRDS
DAVID GREMILLET, CENTRE NATIONAL DES RECHERCHES SCIENTIFIQUES, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS
MELANIE GUIGUENO, MCGILL UNIVERSITY
SCOTT HATCH, INSTITUTE FOR SEABIRD RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF SUB-ARCTIC SEABIRDS
JESSICA HEAD, MCGILL UNIVERSITY, CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC SEABIRDS (CO-PI ON TWO NCP GRANTS)
JF LAMARRE, POLAR KNOWLEDGE, TRACKING OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS
OLIVER LOVE, UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (COLLABORATOR ON SEVERAL GRANTS)
MARK MALLORY, ACADIA, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (COLLABORATOR ON SEVERAL GRANTS)
YAN ROPERT-COUDERT, CENTRE NATIONAL DES RECHERCHES SCIENTIFIQUES, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (PI ON BNP-PARABIS GRANT)
CHRISTINA SEMENIUK, UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (COLLABORATOR ON SEVERAL GRANTS)
ANOUK SIMARD, MFFP, CITIZEN SCIENCE AND WHITE NOSE SYNDROME IN BATS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF AMELIE FONTAINE)
JEAN-FRANCOIS THERRIEN, HAWK MOUNTAIN, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF SNOWY OWLS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF REBECCA MCCABE)
RODGER TITMAN, MCGILL BIRD OBSERVATORY, MOVEMENT OF SONGBIRDS ALONG AN URBAN GRADIENT & BROOD PARASITISM IN MERGANSERS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF NATALIE THIMOT)
JASON TREBERG, UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA, AGEING IN SEABIRDS
FRANCOIS VEZINA, UNIVERSITY DE QUEBEC A RIMOUSKI, USE OF THYROID HORMONES AS A PROXY FOR BMR (CO-PI ON QCBS SEED GRANT)
LYLE WHYTE, MCGILL UNIVERSITY, CO-SUPERVISOR OF ESTEBAN GONGORA
KAREN WIEBE, UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF SNOWY OWLS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF REBECCA MCCABE)
DAVID BIRD, MCGILL UNIVERSITY, APPLICATIONS OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES TO WILDLIFE BIOLOGY (CO-PI ON A MURRE FUND AND MOLSON FUND GRANT)
BIRGIT BRAUNE, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC SEABIRDS (CO-APPLICANT ON TWO NCP GRANTS)
SHAWN CRAIK, UNIVERSITY OF SAINTE-ANNE (CO-SUPERVISOR OF NATALIE THIMOT)
GEORGE DIVOKY, FRIENDS OF COOPER ISLAND, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF ERIN BROWN)
JOHN ELLIOTT, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, CONTAMINANTS IN PACIFIC SEABIRDS
KIM FERNIE, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC SEABIRDS (CO-PI ON TWO NCP GRANTS)
JEROME FORT, CENTRE NATIONAL DES RECHERCHES SCIENTIFIQUES, CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC SEABIRDS (ARCTOX)
MARIE-JOSEE FORTIN, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, ADAPTATION OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS TO AN ICE-FREE SUMMER (CO-PI ON NSERC STRATEGIC GRANT)
KEVIN FRASER, UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF PURPLE MARTINS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF KRISTEN LALLA)
BARBARA FREI, MCGILL BIRD OBSERVATORY, MOVEMENT OF SONGBIRDS ALONG AN URBAN GRADIENT (CO-SUPERVISOR OF ANA MORALES, MATHILDE GUGLIELMI, CATHERINE JARJOUR, CASEY LEUNG, EMMA NIP AND MEGAN PHILLIPS)
VICKI FRIESEN, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, ADAPTATION OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS TO AN ICE-FREE SUMMER (PI ON NSERC STRATEGIC GRANT)
TONY GASTON, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS
GRANT GILCHRIST, ENVIRONMENT CANADA, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (PI ON SEVERAL GRANTS, CO-SUPERVISOR OF DR. EMILY CHOY, THOMAS LAZARUS AND ALLISON PATTERSON)
JONATHAN GREEN, UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL, HEART RATE LOGGING OF SEABIRDS
DAVID GREMILLET, CENTRE NATIONAL DES RECHERCHES SCIENTIFIQUES, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS
MELANIE GUIGUENO, MCGILL UNIVERSITY
SCOTT HATCH, INSTITUTE FOR SEABIRD RESEARCH AND CONSERVATION, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF SUB-ARCTIC SEABIRDS
JESSICA HEAD, MCGILL UNIVERSITY, CONTAMINANTS IN ARCTIC SEABIRDS (CO-PI ON TWO NCP GRANTS)
JF LAMARRE, POLAR KNOWLEDGE, TRACKING OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS
OLIVER LOVE, UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (COLLABORATOR ON SEVERAL GRANTS)
MARK MALLORY, ACADIA, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (COLLABORATOR ON SEVERAL GRANTS)
YAN ROPERT-COUDERT, CENTRE NATIONAL DES RECHERCHES SCIENTIFIQUES, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (PI ON BNP-PARABIS GRANT)
CHRISTINA SEMENIUK, UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF ARCTIC SEABIRDS (COLLABORATOR ON SEVERAL GRANTS)
ANOUK SIMARD, MFFP, CITIZEN SCIENCE AND WHITE NOSE SYNDROME IN BATS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF AMELIE FONTAINE)
JEAN-FRANCOIS THERRIEN, HAWK MOUNTAIN, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF SNOWY OWLS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF REBECCA MCCABE)
RODGER TITMAN, MCGILL BIRD OBSERVATORY, MOVEMENT OF SONGBIRDS ALONG AN URBAN GRADIENT & BROOD PARASITISM IN MERGANSERS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF NATALIE THIMOT)
JASON TREBERG, UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA, AGEING IN SEABIRDS
FRANCOIS VEZINA, UNIVERSITY DE QUEBEC A RIMOUSKI, USE OF THYROID HORMONES AS A PROXY FOR BMR (CO-PI ON QCBS SEED GRANT)
LYLE WHYTE, MCGILL UNIVERSITY, CO-SUPERVISOR OF ESTEBAN GONGORA
KAREN WIEBE, UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN, MOVEMENT ECOLOGY OF SNOWY OWLS (CO-SUPERVISOR OF REBECCA MCCABE)