Research Interests while
at Brock University:
Research interests
of the Brock Seabird Lab (1976-2000). focused broadly
on aspects of parental care behaviour of colonial nesting
seabirds. Study animals were Common Terns (Sterna hirundo),
Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis), Brown Noddies
(Anous stolidus) Herring Gulls (L. argentatus),
and Caspian Terns (S. caspia). Our principal study
areas at temperate locations on the Canadian Great Lakes
were (a) an artificial breakwater offshore from Port Colborne,
Ontario in Lake Erie (Figure 1 & Figure
2) which we worked continuously since 1976, and the
Windermere Basin area at the extreme western end of Lake
Ontario near Hamilton, Ontario (Figure 3) where we worked since 1991.
Our principal tropical study area was on Cayo Noroeste,
one of several seabird islands in the Culebra National Wildlife
Refuge, Puerto Rico (Figure 4), which we had under continuous
study from1985 to 1998.
Our research
questions, within the broader context of parental care
behaviour, addressed four general areas of enquiry:
(1) What
behavioural options are available for disadvantaged chicks
in a multiple-chick brood?
(2) What
are the life history, mate and site fidelity patterns of
a tropical nesting tern, the Brown Noddy?
(3)
What procedures can be used to help preserve a declining
population of Common Terns on the Great Lakes?
(4)
Does newly available habitat alter the nesting distribution
and foraging ecology of Common and Caspian Terns?
Current Research Interests
My present research interests involve
manuscript writing with former students, and under contract
with government agencies. In addition, I continue working
(as an advisor) with a group of fish and wildlife volunteers
from Conservation and Nature Clubs in the Port Colborne
region. Members of this group have accepted responsibility
for the care and management of the Common Tern colony
on the breakwall offshore from the town in Lake Erie.
I also work with colleagues from McMaster University to
manage the Common Tern colonies in the Hamilton Harbour
area of Lake Ontario.
Research Publications
:
(a) Colonial
Nesting Seabirds (1976-2009)
(b) Small
Mammals (1967-1972)
Students :
(a) Ph.D.
Students
(b) M.Sc.
Students
(c) Student
Career Path
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