In our lab, we are interested in the behavioral ecology of reproduction for mammals in their natural environment. The model mammals that we use in our research are free-living rodents (several Peromyscus species) and bats (North American Vespertilionids). 

We are specifically interested in patterns of mating, behaviors associated with mating, patterns of energy use, and acoustic communication.  Because bats and Peromyscus are nocturnal and elusive, we use a suite of direct and indirect approaches to measure behavioral variables in the field that include live trapping, mist-netting, acoustic sampling, automated radio-telemetry, stable isotopes, molecular markers, and thermal imaging.

There is pervasive use of ultrasound by various Peromyscus species in the wild and understanding the context and function of these acoustic behaviors is a current research focus.  We also devote considerable effort to understanding the behavioral responses of bats to anthropogenic influences on forests and watersheds. 

Current projects in my lab include: understanding breeding system variationalong resource gradients in deer mice; population genetic consequences of tree roosting behaviors in bats; effects of intensive pine management on bat foraging behavior; effects of water quality on the foraging ecology of bats; and the context and function of ultrasonic vocalization in wild Peromyscus species.

Many of our projects involve measuring ultrasound of both bats and mice and the spectrograph (frequency vs time graph) you see above contains ultrasound from both a mouse and a bat. For mor details of these projects please visit the Projects and Publications links.