photos left to right: 1) a person looks through binoculars in the mountains, 2) a Lazuli Bunting on a branch, 3) female MacGillivray's Warbler

UM Bird Ecology Lab (UMBEL)

Current & Past Students

We are proud to work alongside a variety of graduate students and undergraduate interns aiming to fulfill research initiatives through the 91次元 and beyond. We value being a springboard of science for future conservationists and management specialists through our collaborative work. Below are some of our current and past graduate research associates.

Current Students:

Portrait of Bridger Creel with plain background

Bridger Creel

Ecophysiology & Ecotoxicology
Bridger is a 5th year PhD candidate studying the effects of mine-waste contamination on riparian songbirds in the Upper Clark Fork River Superfund site. They investigate how songbird diet, physiology and reproductive success change in sites impaired by mining contamination and how metals move through the riparian food web. Their work combines the fields of ecophysiology, food web ecology and ecotoxicology to understand the complex interplay of prey depletion and metal exposure affecting songbirds in mining-impaired habitats.
 
Bridger is advised by Dr. Creagh Breuner and Dr. Ben Colman.
Mary Venegas smiles in front of a wall of succulents

Mary Venegas

Heavy Metal Uptake in Songbirds

Mary's research examines heavy metal exposure in songbirds at the Anaconda Smelter Superfund Site within the Upper Clark Fork Watershed. Specifically, she is exploring how dietary preferences influence metal uptake and its potential effects on reproductive success.

Mary's advisors are Dr. Creagh Breuner & Dr. Erim Gómez.

Past Students:

Anna Kurtin stands in front of a eastern Montanan riparian area

Anna Kurtin

Acoustic Monitoring

Anna Kurtin studied the cryptic and regionally rare Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus). She compared the use of traditional playback surveys vs acoustic monitoring to study this species and used acoustic data to examine their habitat use in the Great Plains. Her research helped fill in information on a species of greatest conservation need and grew the capacity for avian monitoring in Montana.

Her advisors were Dr. Erim Gómez and Dr. Andy Boyce.

Portrait of Joely Desimone

Joely Desimone

Bird Hormones & Migration
Joely enjoyed collaborating with UMBEL and MPG Ranch on her dissertation research studying how the hormones and body condition of Gray Catbirds, Swainson's Thrushes, and Pine Siskins change before predictable and unpredictable migratory movements. Joely is currently an NSF at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Lab.