My Background
My research as Lecturer and PI (Anglia Ruskin University and Cambridge University, 2021-date), Research Associate (Cambridge University, 2015-2022), PhD (Vienna University, 2012-2016), Research Assistant (Auckland University, 2011; Edinburgh Zoo roles, 2008-2010) and MSc (St Andrews University, 2010-2011) has primarily focused on examining the evolution of cognition, specifically in birds and humans (children and adults).
In parallel, I have a strong background of skills, knowledge and practical experience in animal care, welfare, training and conservation, including roles at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) Edinburgh Zoo as Avian Research Coordinator, Animal Keeper and Animal Trainer, animal conservation work in Uganda & Zambia, and a Zoo Animal Management degree.
Selected Current Projects
ManyBirds Project
I co-founded and lead, with a core team, a Big-Team Open Science collaborative approach providing new insights into the evolution of avian cognition and behaviour through comparative studies, following the lead of exemplary projects including ManyBabies, ManyPrimates and others.
Three associated publications to date:
1. Lambert et al. (2022) Animal Behavior and Cognition
2. Miller et al. (2021) Current Biology
3. Garcia-Pelegrin et al. (2022) Zoo Biology
OPEN CALL on Study 1: neophobia in birds
@TheManyBirds (Twitter)
(Website)
manybirdsproject1@gmail.com (Email)
Current Core and Study 1 Teams:
Dr Megan Lambert (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna), Dr Stephan Reber (Lund University), Dr Vedrana Šlipogor (University of South Bohemia),
Elias Garcia-Pelegrin (Cambridge University), Dr Jinook Oh (Institute of Science and Technology, Austria), Dr Claudia Mettke-Hofmann (Liverpool John Moores University), Emma Arbeau (Web designer)
Cognition in Animal Conservation
As PI, I am leading an independent project combining cognitive and behavioural research with applied conservation in Bali myna (Leucopsar rothschildi).
I have secured 2x grants - £5,000 from University of Cambridge in 2021; £10,000 from Anglia Ruskin University in 2022 to support this research including hiring a research team: Elias Garcia-Pelegrin (summer 2021), Emily Danby (summer 2021 & 2022) and Sam Reynolds (summer 2022).
First article out (Miller et al., 2022) in: Royal Society Open Science
Neophobia in Corvids
I recently led a 10-lab collaborative study on individual repeatability, species differences and the socio-ecological correlates of neophobia
(responses to novelty) in 10 corvid species.
In (Miller et al., 2022): Current Biology (click for link)
Collaborators:
Dr Megan Lambert, Dr Anna Frohnweiser, Dr Katharina Brecht, Prof Thomas Bugnyar, Isabelle Crampton, Elias Garcia-Pelegrin, Prof Kristy Gould, Dr Alison Greggor, Prof Ei-Ichi Izawa, Prof Debbie M. Kelly, Dr Zhongqiu Li, Yunchao Luo, Linh Luong, Dr Jorg Massen, Prof Andreas Nieder, Dr Stephan Reber, Martina Schiestl, Akiko Seguchi, Parisa Sepehri , Prof Jeffrey R. Stevens , Dr Alex Taylor, Lin Wang, London M. Wolff, Yigui Zhang, Prof Nicky S. Clayton
