My Background
My research as Senior Lecturer (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, non-human primates and humans (children and adults).
In my previous Leverhulme Trust funded Research Associate role, in Dr Lucy Cheke's CAMB Lab at Cambridge University, I tested the effects of COVID-19 on cognition in adults and children, using online experiments. In my two previous European Research Council funded Research Associate roles, in Prof Nicky Clayton's CCL Lab at Cambridge University, I tested cognition in humans and corvids (crow family), with a particular focus on self-control, behavioural flexibility, social learning and causal reasoning. Key aspects of my Vienna Science and Technology funded PhD in Cognitive Biology, in Prof Thomas Bugnyar's Corvid Lab at Vienna University, involved highlighting the critical role of individual differences, social context and development on cognition in wild and captive crows and ravens.
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
The ManyBirds Project
I co-founded and co-lead, with a core leadership team, a Big-Team Open Science collaborative approach providing new insights into the evolution of avian cognition and behaviour through large-scale 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
Study 1: Evolutionary drivers of neophobia across the avian clade: Submitted for publication and available in pre-print: https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/qhy8m
@TheManyBirds (Twitter/X)
(Website)
manybirdsproject1@gmail.com (Email)
Current Core and Study 1 Leadership Teams:
Dr Megan Lambert (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna), Dr Stephan Reber (Lund University), Dr Vedrana Šlipogor (University of South Bohemia),
Dr Claudia Mettke-Hofmann (Liverpool John Moores University), Dr Kai Caspar (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf), Dr Jimena Lois-Milevicich (University of Buenos Aires)
Cognition in Animal Conservation
As PI (Bali myna) and CO-PI (red-billed chough), I am co-leading two independent projects combining cognitive and behavioural research with applied conservation to enhance reintroduction efforts of threatened species.
Bali myna project: First article out (Miller et al., 2022) in: Royal Society Open Science
Second article in preparation.
Chough project: Advertising for NERC funded PhD studentship with Prof Alex Thornton at Exeter University, Liz Corry at Wildwood Trust, Dr Malcolm Nicoll at ZSL and Dr Malcolm Burgess at RSPB (2024).
Neophobia in Corvids
I 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